Water Main Break Forces Summerville High Closure

Tuolumne, CA — Summerville Union High School in Tuolumne will be closed tomorrow due to a water main break.

Superintended Michael Merrill tells Clarke Broadcasting that the main broke just after lunchtime, around 1:30 p.m. He says the school’s water is provided by Westside Properties and is pumped to a holding tank on higher ground. Merill detailed that crews initially hoped to shut off sections of the system, but found they could not since it works on gravity and the leak was closer to the tank. Shutting off that section would have left most campus restrooms without water rendering them inoperable.

Instead, the water was left on today so classes could continue through the end of the school day. Merrill shared  that outside his office the excess water made “a stream of dirty brown water that could be seen flowing over the street.” To allow crews to make the repairs, the water will be shut off on Thursday (Oct. 29) and the campus will be closed. He added that emails regarding the school’s closure were sent to staff, students and parents.

Merrill says digging will begin first thing in the morning with the work expected to be completed by the end of the day and classes anticipated to resume on Friday.