Water problem closes school

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Thoreau Elementary will be closed Thursday and probably Friday as well because of water problems in the community, public school officials said Wednesday.
School was also called off as well because there was no running water at the school.

Officials said that some water is being brought in to fill the commodes so they can be used at the school and those teacher residences that are out of water.

A spokeswoman for the Thoreau Water and Sanitation District said the problem is not a lack of water but a lack of pressure. Crews are cleaning one of the wells, so families in the community far away from the well head don’t have the pressure to allow them to get water.

Sanitation district officials said that the office’s telephone lines have been jammed all day with people calling in to ask about the water situation and when the water will be back to normal.

Sanitation district officials aren’t saying when the water will be back up, but school officials are saying that school will probably be back in session no later than Monday, although they expect that the water situation will not be back to normal until late next week.

One Thoreau resident called to complain to the paper that district officials put notices up in some parts of the community but not in others, so some families had no idea that there was a water problem until they tried to use their faucet or commode.