Photo by Zach Maher
Mustang Daily staff report
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Update 1:20 p.m. Wednesday
After another delay overnight, hot water is running on campus, said Tina Flack, an administrative analyst for Cal Poly Facilities.
Hot water was restored near 12 p.m., nine hours after the 3 a.m. goal the university set Tuesday. A Cal Poly spokesperson did not immediately return messages placed Wednesday afternoon requesting more information.
Meanwhile, Cal Poly freshmen headed to academic day Wednesday morning and several showered using cold water.
Update 4:54 p.m. Tuesday
Areas on campus are finding ways to cope Tuesday with water problems across Cal Poly.
University Housing officials, already busy with thousands of students moving onto campus, are providing hand sanitizer to those who have concerns about not being able to wash with hot water, university spokesperson Matt Lazier said.
Poly Canyon Village, which also allowed students to move in today, was not affected by the hot water shortage because of its distance from the campus’ core.
At the Recreation Center, employees used the time the facility was closed to register students for access and provide them with tours. The center opened at 2:30 p.m, though pools remained closed longer so they could be treated with chemicals.
“We were just being patient,” said Greg Avakian, assistant director at the Recreation Center.
Update 3:33 p.m.
Pushing back its original estimate of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Cal Poly now expects to have hot water returned to all buildings by 3 a.m. Wednesday, said Matt Lazier, a university spokesperson. Lazier did not know the reason for the delay, but said construction would take place overnight and hot water service would resume soon after.
Water began flowing at 1:30 p.m. inside the six buildings that were without water Tuesday morning.
Original post
Students and parents on campus today are still feeling the effects of a water pipe break that dumped 10,000 gallons outside the Recreation Center Monday.
Six buildings — the Julian A. McPhee University Union, the H.P. Davidson Music Center, Mott Athletics Center, the Recreation Center, the Kinesiology building and the University Store — were closed Tuesday morning because of water outages. Hot water across campus is also expected to be off until 5 p.m. Tuesday, university spokesperson Matt Lazier said.
The problem originated when a pipe broke around 8 a.m. Monday — likely because of aging, Lazier said — in an underground passage near the Recreation Center. In addition to hot water disruptions, heating and cooling systems on campus were also knocked offline, though air conditioning was restored this morning.
Sean McMinn contributed to this staff report.