Journal staff report

Cracks in the water line Saturday on Spring Street, between Second Streets and Argyle Avenue, spilled roughly 20,000 gallons of water and cut off water supplies to about 10 businesses for about seven hours.

Town of Friday Harbor Administrator Duncan Wilson said four town employees spent about 12 hours in bone-chilling temperatures, dropping as low as 10 degrees, working to repair the break.

“We’re very proud of the job that the crew did in horrible conditions,” said Wilson, noting that repair costs totaled about $2,000, mostly for workers’ wages.

Water spilled out of two deteriorated and rusted portions of the water, each about two-third of an inch in size, Wilson said.

It’s the second substantial break in the town’s aging water line in the past 15 months. A crack in the 70-year-old underground system of cast-iron pipes on Labor Day weekend a year ago sent a torrent of water gushing down Spring Street, forcing the closure of several businesses on the south side of the street, to close for the night. The ensuing repair took roughly 15 hours to complete.

The town has already replaced the aging main from Second to First streets, and will replace the First Street to Front Street section early next year. The section from Argyle to Second Street is scheduled for replacement late in 2014; however, Wilson said, “we hope to move it up based on this incident.”