Winthrop is left without water after a city water line burst on Cherry Rd. on Wednesday afternoon.
A 20-inch pipe at the water filter plant broke, flooding the street and leaving the surrounding businesses with no running water. The line supplies water for Rock Hill, York, Tega Cay and Fort Mill. These areas are also experiencing low water pressure.
The remainder of classes on Wednesday and all Thursday classes were canceled students were notified via the WU Alert system.
Students have been instructed to not use showers, faucets and toilets until water is restored. Those who live on campus have been advised to leave Winthrop until the issue is resolved.
“Nobody has water and a bunch of the food places are closing down and because of that we can’t shower, we can’t use the bathroom,” Ellen Vereen, a sophomore accounting major said.
Dining Services are offering limited services for the day due to the lack of clean water available. Retail locations closed at 4 p.m. on Wednesday and Thomson will be serving a “modified menu,” according to Winthrop’s website.
“We can’t really go to any place in Rock Hill [to eat] because a bunch of those places are closed, so you may have to go to Charlotte or something to get food,” Vereen said.
Portajons have been brought in and placed in front of the West Center, Wofford, Richardson, Phelps and Courtyard.
Businesses on Cherry Rd. were forced to shut down as they were left without any running water. Tim Dallas, co-owner of the Rock Hill CBD Distribution, said he closed his shop down because of the flooding.
“I did close down early, due to the fact that there is no water and the roads are blocked so I’m not going to get any business at all,” Dallas said.
“We’re hoping to reopen tomorrow, but according to what they’re saying, it’s going to be about this time tomorrow before they’ll get this fixed, so it’s going to put a damper on [business],” Dallas said.
John Howard, an employee for the water department for the city of Rock Hill, was part of the crew that came to stop the water leakage.
“Right now we’re just trying to kill the water by cutting off valves and stuff, so we got to wait until all the water drains out of the pipe and then put sleeves on the 24-inch pipe and then just connect it and fix it,” Howard said.
Winthrop has been communicating with students through email and social media. The university has warned that water on campus is not safe for consumption.
“Please keep in mind that any water currently on campus is not potable or safe & shouldn’t be used for eating, drinking or bathing,” Winthrop said via Twitter.
York County is currently under a boil water advisory until further notice.
Victoria Howard and Savannah Scott contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported that the broken line was a 24-inch pipe. The line is a 20-inch pipe.
