Wednesday at around 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Seminole High School experienced a water main break, making the school’s water supply unsafe to use. Because of this, the school could not receive any water from the city of Sanford, disabling the use of any water fountains, toilets, or sinks.

A water main break is when a service pipe connecting the main flow of water into a household, or in this case a school, develops a crack or a hole, allowing the water to flow out of it into the ground. In addition to water flowing out of the pipe, dirt and other contaminants can go into the water supply, thus making it undrinkable.

The break was only discovered at around 2:30 p.m. when the various water oriented facilities stopped working around campus. It was concluded that the flow of water between the city of Sanford and Seminole had stopped, with the water leaking out of the pipe and into the ground instead of towards Seminole.

“[We] started to fill the coolers, but the water slowly started to run out,” says athletic trainer junior Alauna Mobley. “The water just slowly stopped running. A coach was nice enough to take some coolers to his house that wasn’t too far away to fill it up.”

The absent water supply was especially troublesome for the athletic department, as water is vital to prevent dehydration  while practicing.

Junior Varsity football player Dalton Russell says, “Playing in the heat in full pads, you sweat much more than you normally would and you do it quickly. If you don’t hydrate before and during practice then there’s no way you can get through the practice.”

This problem not only affects the sports department but the whole school. Parents and students were contacted that the school would be on boil alert until Monday. Water fountains would not be usable for the next two days.

Thursday morning during third period, Dr. Connie Collins made a schoolwide announcement for students that water would be available in every building in the administration offices for students. Teachers were required to allow students to go to the office to get water. Students were glad that water was being provided, but were surprised that it wasn’t that it wasn’t bottled water.  

Dr. Connie Collins says, “I think that just because everyone was prepared, it hasn’t been as hectic a situation it could have been. As long as people can have water to drink and all of our facilities are working, we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Students should refrain from drinking water from the water fountains, to avoid drinking contaminated water. Seminole High School is on a boil water alert for the next two days, but following that, Seminole’s water supply will be fine to drink from once more.