Second sewage leak fixed on Prospect Ave.

Posted 5/9/18

Workers repair a second leak in a Prospect Avenue sewer line. (Photo by Brendan Sample) by Brendan Sample Just over two months after it was initially fixed, the private sewer line on the 8600 block …

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Second sewage leak fixed on Prospect Ave.

Posted

Workers repair a second leak in a Prospect Avenue sewer line. (Photo by Brendan Sample)

by Brendan Sample

Just over two months after it was initially fixed, the private sewer line on the 8600 block of Prospect Avenue needed to be repaired again for a second leak. It took several more weeks of waiting on the part of the Prospect neighbors, but Hirschberg Mechanical was again able to fix the line on Wednesday, May 2.

When neighbors first noticed the new leak about a month ago, they made calls to both the Philadelphia Water Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in an effort to get the sewer plugged up again. Given that the sewer line is privately owned, the PWD was still unable to directly fix it themselves, but did reach out to the owner, listed as Tavistock Condos, with the expectation that it would arrange for someone to come out and fix the sewer, similar to what happened the last time.

“The DEP understands that this is a private system, but expects the PWD to follow up and enforce it to the best of its ability,” said Laura Copeland, public information officer for the PWD. “The challenge with a private system is that we don't have exact locations for the private piping.”

Once Hirshberg was called out to fix the sewer, it was able to get it repaired in one day. Workers who repaired the line estimated that the leak came from a different part of the same line that had been leaking before.

Although this is the second leak, and thus the second time the PWD has had to notify Tavistock this year, Copeland confirmed that the department has not issued any sort of violation to the owner.

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