If there's anything worse for water customers than a January water main break, it's two water main breaks at the same place, same time.

Two breaches Monday in the water delivery infrastructure along Hometown's Cumberland Avenue kept work crews busy around the clock and customers devoid of water.The first breach took place on a Rush Township right of way located between the properties of Cynthia Boris and Carol Cicioni, near Lincoln Street.Boris said she noticed water bubbling up from the ground in that area around 7 a.m.Work crews from the Tamaqua Area Water Authority responded and excavated the site, determining that a water main valve had "popped off," something, they said, was not too common.Repairs took seven hours, meaning that homes, businesses and all of the shops of Village Square Mall were without water most of the day.Midway through repairs, workers noticed water bubbling up one block away at the intersection of Cumberland Avenue and Wyoming Street, indicating a second breach in the system.Work commenced at that site about 3:30 p.m., requiring excavation of macadam and dirt, along with setting up a traffic detour.At that site, too, the problem was found to be a failed valve.Rob Jones, Tamaqua public works director, said every effort was being made so that homes and businesses affected by the first water main breach wouldn't lose water again during repairs of the second breach.At 6:45 p.m., as workers began installation of a new valve, water pressure was reduced to a trickle in a section of the community located east of Route 309.Crews were still at work in darkness late Monday using shovels and backhoe, along with a gasoline-powered generator, water pump and emergency lighting.Both excavations and repairs took place almost directly above the location of an underground Sun Oil Company pipeline. The pipeline is believed to stretch from Syracuse to Philadelphia, according to Kevin Steigerwalt, borough manager.The pipeline runs beneath Cumberland Avenue, then crosses Hometown Hill near Ye Old Hauto Road, and proceeds through Tamaqua beneath the Little Schuylkill River.