Residents Concerned After Water Main Break Floods Homes For Fourth Time In 12 Years

DENVER (CBS4) - A water main break Thursday morning caused more than street flooding. Residents tell CBS4, this is the fourth time they've had to deal with water damage on their property.

"It's not surprising, I was kind of expecting it," Maggie Jones said.

Imagine that. Expecting a water main to break that's capable of flooding an entire block. It happened around 6:20 a.m. Thursday, near Yale and Delaware, right into Englewood property and basements.

"It's the fourth time in about 12 years and they just say it's old pipes," Jones exclaimed.

It's hard to believe, but for Jones' this is her reality.

"To me, they're just putting a band-aid on it, but I just don't understand why it keeps breaking in the same place," she told CBS4.

According to Denver Water, parts of the water main section on Yale have broken 4 times since 2009.

"Under the Colorado Water Immunity Act, Denver water is not responsible from a water main break," Jones read.

She showed CBS 4 a leaflet she received from Denver Water. It says there's a program to help with damages, but Jones believes the program doesn't do enough. She recalls old collectors' items, along with tons of records that could not be replaced or valued for damages the previous times her basement flooded because of a water main break.

"You can see my cellar door open, and it just flows right through there and straight down. Also, there's the mold issue, I won't have my car for a few days now, so it'll mean missed work, things like that," Jones explained.

"We feel for this family, and I know we are working with customers on an individual basis to help them," Jose Salas Denver Water spokesperson said.

Denver Water is working with people like Jones to restore and cover some of the damages. In the meantime, Salas told us, the company has moved this section of piping to a higher priority in their $130 million pipe program to avoid future water main breaks. Now, unlike pipes that decades-old, this one was installed in 1952.

"And at this point, we actually don't know what caused the main break," he said.

It's no consolation to Jones, she lives in worry, that this could happen again, it already has 4 times. She's not sure how her home's foundation will withstand much more.

"Maybe not the last is pretty depressing," Jones added.