Tarpon Springs Sewer Repairs Prompt Plea From County

TARPON SPRINGS, FL — Repairs to a 30-inch sewer force main on Mango Street damaged when a sinkhole opened Wednesday will take place over the weekend, Pinellas County Utilities announced. While those repairs are ongoing, however, residents in a number of neighborhoods are being asked to limit their water use.

Major repair work is set to begin at midnight Friday and is hoped to be completed by 6 a.m. Saturday. During the repairs, “sewer water from the affected neighborhoods will be completely dependent on the tanker trucks located at pump-out stations” in several neighborhoods, the county announced in an email. The neighborhoods are:

• Ridgemoor
• Lansbrook
• Crescent Oaks
• Tarpon Woods
• Woodfield
• Cypress Run
• Wentworth
• Windwood

People who live in those neighborhoods are being asked to help facilitate the repairs by keeping sewer flow low “by using minimum amount of water during the repair,” the email said. “Residents should especially refrain from running washing machines and dishwashers from Friday night through Saturday morning.”

Since tanker trucks will be handling 100 percent of the sewage, residents are also in for a bit of a noisy night, the county warned.

Updates on the work will be provided on the county website at www.pinellascounty.org and through Alert Pinellas, the county noted. That service is designed to provide free emergency communications from the county via email, phone call or text. To sign up, visit www.pinellascounty.org/alertpinellas or call 866-484-3264. Updates will also be posted on www.NextDoor.com.

"We want to thank the residents of the affected neighborhoods for their cooperation,” assistant county administrator Pick Talley said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Tarpon Springs officials are continuing to monitor the status of the homes that were evacuated on Wednesday in the Tarpon Shores Mobile Home Park. No homes have been damaged thus far. Monitoring is expected to continue until the area is determined to be safe, the city said. Residents will be allowed to return home once the sinkhole is stabilized.

The sinkhole forced the evacuation of six homes, city officials have said. The hole was estimated to be about 60 feet across and 35 feet in depth.

A timeframe for complete repairs in the area has not yet been announced.

Photo courtesy of the City of Tarpon Springs

Sign up for the Tarpon Springs Patch newsletter and alerts!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, too!