Allegheny College students awoke Tuesday morning to an unexpected disruption: Below-freezing temperatures the night before had contributed to a major water line break on Monday night that left 15 campus buildings — eight of them residential buildings — without running water.

In an all-campus email from the Office of Public Safety sent at 9:41 a.m. on Tuesday, the college announced that classes were canceled for the remainder of the day.

“We just learned from the city of Meadville that all city water will be turned off temporarily at 10:00am,” the email said. “Given this update, all classes and other campus activities are cancelled until further notice.”

The water line break, which occurred near the intersection of Highland Avenue and Randolph Street, caused a loss of water pressure throughout most of Allegheny’s water system and elsewhere in the city.

A boil water advisory was issued on Tuesday, Jan. 27, after the city’s water access was temporarily turned off. The advisory was expected to remain in effect for three days after the Meadville Area Water Authority repaired the damage. The alert originally estimated that most affected buildings were expected to have running water by Tuesday at approximately 4 p.m., though access ended up being restored shortly before 7 p.m.

For many students, the first sign that something was wrong resulted from everyday activities. Madalyn Myers, ’29, discovered the issue while trying to use a sink in Crawford Hall on Monday afternoon.

“I wondered if the water was out,” Myers said. “I found out through the sink.”

After noticing multiple construction workers outside Crawford late Monday night, Myers approached them to gain insight on what was happening.

“I said, ‘Hi, the water is out, do you have a time estimate of when it will turn back on?’” she recalled.

One of the workers appeared surprised, Myers said, and responded after looking back at their crewmate and saying, “They shut it off already?” The worker then told Myers the water would not be back on until after midnight.

Myers later that night saw evidence of the situation while driving along Highland Avenue, where she observed a water main burst further down the road.

“You could see it down the street,” she noted.

As word got around campus, students began adjusting to life without running water. When the city of Meadville shut off all water service shortly after 10 a.m., water fountains, bathrooms, sinks and showers became inoperable. The college responded on Tuesday by distributing cases of bottled water to the Henderson Campus Center and the affected residential buildings across campus, as well as installing 18 portable toilets and eight hand-washing stations in high-traffic areas.

Benjamin Keefer, ’28, president of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, told The Campus at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday that the disruption immediately raised concerns about basic needs.

“Where am I going to shower if this goes on for a while?” Keefer said.

Behind the scenes, local officials worked to control the consequences of the break and ensure campus safety. According to reporting by The Meadville Tribune, the source of the water main break had to do with a valve in a 12-inch water line, where all of the bolts connecting the bonnet to the valve body had failed. Shutting down the water system was necessary because water was leaking faster than the storage tanks could be replenished.

The Tribune also reported on Tuesday afternoon that two Meadville Central Fire Department trucks, carrying a combined total of approximately 1,300 gallons of water, were available in case of any fire emergencies while the water system was shut down. Nearby fire companies were also prepared to assist if needed.

Bob Harrington, operations manager for the MAWA, in a phone interview with The Campus, explained that crews had to first uncover the damaged section near the southern end of Highland Avenue before determining the extent of the break and beginning repairs.

“We absolutely know the exact spot, that was absolutely unquestionable when you were out there at the break,” Harrington said around 11 a.m. on Tuesday. “They’re not usually quite that obvious. This had a significant amount of flow and a significant amount of pressure behind it.”

Harrington said the break was the result of the nearly 90-year-old water infrastructure as well as extremely cold temperatures and snow accumulation in the area.

During the day, the college provided continuous email communications to the Allegheny community, updating them on working restrooms, dining halls’ hours of operation, bottled water availability and other operations details, such as that Physical Plant was manually refilling boilers as necessary to maintain the heat in buildings that are heated by radiators.

The water line repair and system repressurization was completed shortly before 7 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, restoring access to non-potable water in the affected buildings. While repairs to the water main are complete, officials continued to warn about the issues that may be caused as running water starts to come back through the pipes. Water pressure may vary and the water may be discolored and smell like chlorine, according to the MAWA.

The Office of Public Safety continues to provide updates as repairs progress, reminding students to remain cautious as water service returns to campus.

Anna Westbrook, Milo Watson, Ben Stavnezer, Joseph Klepeis, Lorena Silva Soares de Oliveira and Andy Germann contributed to this story.