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Neither George Gothot, a sophomore in accounting, nor his roommate were in their 12th floor Taylor Tower dorm when a pipe burst at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday, splashing hot green water all across the room and causing the ceiling to cave in.
Gothot said he was out eating dinner when his roommate received a call from a neighbor who said steam was seeping from underneath his room door.
Sunday’s flood, which originated in room 1204, sprinkled down to the floors beneath, the lobby and the basement affecting about 20 rooms on the west wing of Taylor Tower, said Bryan Smalley, hall director for the north campus tower. Only room 1204 had to be evacuated, and the two students were provided with temporary housing within Taylor Tower. It was the building’s second flood of the weekend – the basement had done so Friday evening.
“It was a total disaster,” Gothot said of his dorm room. “Everything in the room was destroyed.”
Gothot said he lost books and clothes in the flood but managed to save his laptop computer.
“I had my laptop in a case within a drawer,” Gothot said. “If it would have been anywhere else besides that drawer, it would have been destroyed.”
The water reached about one to two inches in most rooms affected, Smalley said. Gothot said maintenance told him his room held six inches of water at one point.
He was also told by maintenance, he said, that the water reached 160 degrees and the temperature in the room reached 90 degrees with 100 percent humidity.
Smalley said the OSU housing contract explains “the university is not responsible for replacing personal items that are damaged or lost within the dorms.” He said students should find out if their parents have them covered under a homeowner’s or renter’s insurance plan, and if not, students should consider this option.
Gothot said he was told by witnessing residents that a dense fog extended all across the west wing hall from room 1208, past 1204 and to the door. The green or yellowish water crept into the adjacent room 1208 but did not cause any major damage.
“It smelled really musty,” he said.
Green liquid
The greenish color of the water is due to the presence of chemical liquid nitrite, which is used to delay corrosion within the pipes and to help identify from what pipe the water originates, said Molly Calhoun, director of Facilities Planning and Support under Student Affairs.
“A member of the Environmental Protection Agency stopped by the night of the flood and took samples of the water and reported that the water was not toxic,” Smalley said in an e-mail delivered to all Taylor Tower residents Wednesday night.
The pipe busted when the piece connecting a copper and iron pipe separated, said Brett Mayo, director of Operations for Facilities Planning and Support under Student Affairs. Mayo said copper pipes are preferred to iron because iron has a tendency to corrode.
While he said he does not understand why that particular junction of the pipes busted, Mayo said he does not attribute the cause of the broken pipes to old age or corrosion, adding that the bursting of pipes “just happens. We can’t predict it.” He also said because there is no way to predict if a pipe might fail, “it could happen again.”
Calhoun said Student Affairs is still collecting reports of students’ damaged personal belongings and costs to repair ceilings, floors and walls. Calhoun said it might take a couple of weeks before they know the full damage estimate.
Recurring problem
There are about one or two floods a year, said Ruth Gerstner, Student Affairs special assistant for communications.
“Replacing pipes is not a priority because broken water pipes are very rare,” she said.
Calhoun said a pipe project will take place this summer for several residence halls.
Similar floods occurred in Taylor Tower’s 12th floor back in 2001 and 2005. Other floods have occurred within the past two years because windows were left open.
“I’ve been around for a while to know that Taylor Tower has had some issue with flooding,” Smalley said, adding there was nothing students could have done to prevent the floods the last few days. Smalley advises students to leave their windows closed to prevent other kinds of floods because the heating water within the water pipes might freeze if windows are left open during the winter and cause them to bust.
Gerstner said students should place an online service request to lower their room’s heat if it is too warm and leave windows closed.
