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More than 420,000 gallons of water gushed from a broken pipe Monday in Provo, flooding several homes and causing significant damage to an intersection.
An old lead plug ruptured at the intersection of 600 West and 300 South about 2:30 a.m. Crews shut off the water line at 5 a.m., but several homes were damaged, said Helen Anderson, Provo City spokeswoman.
The line spewed about 3,500 gallons a minute for about two hours, said Merril Bingham, Provo Public Works director.
Three apartments and one home's basement were flooded, and another home had damage to the lawn, Anderson said. About 35 homes were without water until about 6 p.m.
Utah Disaster Kleenup was called in to assess and repair the damage to homes. Provo will pay for the costs associated with the cleanup, Anderson said.
She said one family requested the city put them up in a hotel. The Utah Red Cross also is providing assistance to families.
Apparently, a metal plug in an 8-inch, T-shaped pipe that came off the 20-inch main line blew out early Monday morning. The lead plug had been in place for more than 30 years, Bingham said.
"It's really old technology," he said. "We haven't used it for a long, long time."
Workers were replacing a 15-foot section of the main Monday afternoon.
Aaron Falk contributed to this report.