Water main break prompts two-day closure of Blessed Savior South Campus

MILWAUKEE - An underground leak caused water to fill up inside a school and gush out the front door.

The mess forced Blessed Savior to close its south campus on the north side of town near 64th and Capitol Thursday and Friday.

In order to find the location of the leak, crews with Heiden Plumbing had to do a test from a branch of the main leak to the meter pit, which leads to the school.

The plumbing company tells CBS 58 they were called to the school at 4:30 a.m. Thursday and found water leaking through the floor drains and urinals inside.

Experts say typical leads bubble up in the road and are caught by neighbors.

But with this one, the water couldn't surface face the frost is so deep.

Instead of flowing through the main, the water found another path through the sanitary sewer line.

For some reason that pipe couldn't handle the water flow, so it all backed up into the school, flooding classrooms and hallways with inches of water.

It's a common sight for crews across the City of Milwaukee during this harsh winter.

\"Plumbers have been busy this year doing a lot of main break repairs on laterals, frozen water lines,\" said Andrew Wyderka of Heiden Plumbing Company. \"It's been around the clock.\"

Wyderka said there is two to three inches of sand and silt on the carpet and tile floors inside the school and says cleanup will be extensive.

Crews hope to have the water line fixed by Thursday afternoon.

In the meantime, there will be no classes Friday for students at Blessed Savior's south campus.