A frozen pipe at Carbon County Correctional Facility recently caused the jail to go without running water for 30 hours.

County officials say they are taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The problems started March 3 when the jail lost running water due to the 100,000-gallon water tank on the property emptying. Water was restored by March 5, but the jail was under a water boil advisory until March 9.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said an underground pipe outside the jail froze, disrupting the flow of water from an underground well to the water storage tank on the property.

It appears the pipe was exposed to freezing temperatures while contractors were doing work to expand the driveway of the Carbon County Communications Center.

“The hole being open is probably what caused the freeze-up,” Nothstein said. “It should have never frozen, but it did.”

The section of pipe which froze is part of a 1,500-foot pipe which carries water from a well to the water storage tank on the jail property. The problem worsened over two days and was discovered only after the tank emptied and water pressure in the jail dropped.

The jail had to truck in more than 100,000 gallons of water to refill the tank.

Warden Timothy Fritz said the jail is still totaling the cost of the emergency repairs as bills come in. He said the facility is insured against incidents like this.

After about 30 hours without running water, service was restored to the jail. However inmates and staff were forced to use boiled or bottled water for another four days until tests came back clear for any contamination.

DEP required that the jail distribute fliers to inmates explaining that they should not consume tap water from the jail unless it was boiled, or to opt for bottled water.

Following the incident, the county decided to look into its water system. Nothstein said he’s identified several things that should be done to improve the system.

One recommendation was to add a gauge outside the tank and an alarm which would notify staff if the water level is dropping.

Right now, a staff member has to climb on the roof of the tank and use a piece of Styrofoam on a string to measure how much water is in the tank.

They also want to look into fixing copper pipes in the pump house which have been patched together over the years.

The pipe froze while contractors were working on a project to lower the storm drains along the driveway to the Carbon County Communications Center. The lower storm drains are needed so the driveway to the communication center, which is one lane, can be widened.

Following the frozen pipe, the county installed a “wet tap” where if there is a situation where the water supply is cut off, a tanker of water can be hooked up to the building until the problem is resolved.