The Dartmouth campus was without water for several hours Sunday night as a result of problems with the town of Hanover's water system.
A Saturday morning power outage caused pumps in the town's water system to function improperly, leading the Hanover's water storage tank to drain to a lower than normal level. At around 8 p.m., the system's water pressure began to drop noticeably, a problem which was reflected in a lack of water in buildings across the Dartmouth campus.
The Hanover and Lebanon fire departments responded to the problem, providing the plant with water in large tankers. John Gratiot, associate vice president of Facilities Operations and Management, estimated that the water pressure problem would be resolved by around midnight on Monday morning.
Gratiot warned that students should allow water to run from their faucets and showers before resuming use.
"The bottom line is that when the water comes back on it will probably be dirty," he said, noting that the water would be safe for use.
Though there were initially concerns that the problem would impact the College's heating system as well, as the lack of water pressure also affects the boilers which produce heat, Gratiot said that the heat had been unaffected as a result of the fire departments' actions.
Gratiot said that another possible result of the problem could be fire alarms in some of the dormitories, explaining that the alarms are equipped with a sensor which could be activated as water flowed back into the pipes.
FO&M's "troubleshooters" and members of the Hanover Fire Department were working to minimize any potential problems, Gratiot said.
Community Directors throughout campus sent BlitzMail messages to their residents during the shortage, warning of the problem and recommending that students avoid water use.
Responding to the perceived chance for heat problems, Choates Community Director Kristin Deal advised her residents in a BlitzMail message to keep their windows closed and "bundle up" for the evening.
Hanover Water Works said that they were not ready to give a statement when contacted by The Dartmouth Sunday night.
