Water gushed from broken Montgomery County main, starts to freeze

A water main break left Montgomery County residents without water and a potential icy mess on streets and sidewalks Monday morning.

Officials said the water main was repaired and services were restored to customers at 6:22 p.m. Monday evening.

"When water service is restored after a main break, customers may experience cloudy or discolored water at first.  This is normal," Kara Rahn, with Pennsylvania American Water, said. "We suggest they run the cold water taps only, at the lowest level of the house for about 3 to 5 minutes until the water runs clear."

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The break happened around 4 a.m. and sent water gushing onto streets near West Penn and Cherry streets in Norristown -- that's a residential area just off Main Street.

Water could be seen bubbling from the ground and flowing along the road. The water continued to flow from underground at 6:30 a.m.

Spots where the water calmed down appeared to start to freeze as temperatures were well below freezing.

Residents tried to move their cars out of the way to avoid getting iced in. They said they turned on the water Monday morning only to get nothing out of the tap.

"I got up to go to the bathroom, there wasn't no water," a resident -- who had just come from a friend's house -- said. "Without a doubt, it's definitely going to freeze so I had to move my car off the street into the lot so I don't get stuck."

In total, water service to about 265 residential and commercial customers was impacted, Pennsylvania American Water said.

It wasn't immediately clear how big of a water main broke. A public works vehicle and crew responded to the scene.

All roads have been opened in the area, according to officials.

Water main breaks are seemingly more common this time of year as temps yo-yo below and above freezing.

Rahn said there was no immediate cause known for this break.

"Weather is certainly a common cause this time of year but we haven't determine that officially in this case just yet," Rahn said.