- A Salt Lake City water meter leak caused a Holladay mudslide, affecting homes.
- The meter's sacrificial bottom released water, preventing a worse water main break.
- Salt Lake City plans to replace the meter and aid affected residents with repairs.
HOLLADAY — A Salt Lake City water meter did exactly what it was supposed to do, leading to a leak that caused a Holladay mudslide and flooding that affected at least three homes overnight.
This happened in a neighborhood near 3100 East just north of the Old Mill Golf Course and Knudsen's Corner.
Chloe Morroni, communications and public engagement manager for the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, said a part of the water meter, known as its sacrificial bottom, released water as designed when the water and pressure built up.
"And that way, it can prevent something worse from happening, like a water main break," Morroni said. "So it did that. It's just — the topography out here certainly caused some issues."
The water meter sat on a hillside above the homes. So when the bottom "sacrificed itself," according to Morroni, that led to the mudslide and flooding. She said the same design on a flat surface would likely cause no problems.
Holladay water meter leak causes damage
The water meter leak in Holladay left behind a large cleanup project for the people who live at the bottom of the hill.
Paul Holmes and his family spent time shoveling mud out of their driveway and assessing the damage in the basement where he lives.
"It seemed like an explosion of water coming out from up there, and it just started rushing down," Holmes said.
According to Holmes, the ensuing mudslide and flooding sent 2- to- 3 feet of mud into his basement apartment.
"We can't even get the doors open, because the mud is keeping the doors shut, so we have to go through the back windows," Holmes said.
That's how he was able to save a computer from the deluge. Holmes said he's already spoken with a disaster restoration company, which said it'll take a lot of work to fix the damage.
"It's a full restoration (that's needed), like — tear (it) down to the studs," he said.
Fortunately, he said neither he nor his dog Arthur was inside when the mud came flooding in.
Piper Knight witnessed the mudslide and said it all started when she heard a loud noise.
"I look out the garage, and I just see all this, like, dirty water gushing and just a bunch of stuff falling," Knight said.
Knight said her family rushed to get a car out of the garage before the water hit.
"It was just really chaotic," she said.
Salt Lake City offers Holladay mudslide help
Morroni said the work to begin fixing the water meter leak and the damage it left behind in Holladay begins now. While the damage happened in Holladay, Salt Lake City owns the water meter.
First, she said the city will hire a contractor to shore up the hillside. Then, they'll replace the water meter with a more modern "smart" version.
"The actual water meter itself is about 21 years old," Morroni said. "We hate to see this happen. It's so unfortunate. I'm thankful no one was injured and the water line was not broken itself, so that it did not knock a whole bunch of homes out of water."
Jason Draper, chief engineer of Salt Lake City Public Utilities, said the city would assess the meter and "do what we can to not only replace it, but make it even stronger."
"There, we'll put in some retaining walls and do some geotechnical engineering to see what the best options are," he said.
Draper said the area has an aging infrastructure, and new technology, such as smart meters, could help.
"It's just a matter of time and prioritization and trying to find the best place to put our money that, with our limited resources, and replace those as best we can."
According to Morroni, Holmes and the other residents affected have a path toward seeking help paying for repairs.
"The homeowners would contact risk management for Salt Lake City, and they would file a claim, and then that process would unfold. And yes, so the city definitely does respond to that," Morroni said.
State responds to recent waterline issues
In a statement, the Utah Division of Public Utilities told KSL it supports replacing aging infrastructure with proactive funding.
"For the limited number of water companies in the Division of Public Utilities' jurisdiction, the division strongly supports a rate-funded capital reserve account to ensure the companies can replace aging infrastructure and respond to emergencies," said Chris Parker, the division director. "The Public Service Commission has supported this approach in rate cases."
