A massive overflow of a toilet in the women’s bathroom near the gym occurred at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sep. 6. The overflow, resulting from clogging in one of the toilets, led to flooding of the bathroom and leakage down into the Career Center. Due to the leakage, the Career Center will be closed until at least Monday, Sep. 10.
To combat the leakage, several MTHS staff members gathered and attempted to limit potential damage. Methods such as gathering trash bins from around the school and placing them underneath the leakage points were used to limit contact between the liquid leaking from the bathroom and surfaces in the Career Center. Additionally, water was shut off in the building to stop the leakage until the specific problem could be located and resolved.
Assistant Principal Peter Schurke was one of the MTHS staff members who gathered to contain the leakage.
“A toilet in the upstairs bathroom was clogged and continuing to run, and the water, with nowhere else to go, started trying to find ways to get down,” Schurke said. “When [the water] found a way through the floor upstairs, it started coming down through the ceiling in the Career Center.”
When the leakage began, the first action taken was to ensure that it was not a result of a burst water pipe, which would have necessitated maintenance to the plumbing system and possibly the evacuation of the building. However, maintenance staff quickly determined that the flooding was not the result of a burst water pipe.
“Now that the toilet is unclogged and the water is shut off to that toilet, [the maintenance personnel] just need to get the water sucked up and start getting things dried out,” Schurke said.”
Initially there were also fears of leakage in the boiler room. However, water which was seen in the boiler room was actually due to the safety valve which was released when the building’s water was shut off. The safety valve ensured that the boilers would not overheat when they lost water.
Water was turned back on in the building at approximately 3:26 p.m. after the clogged toilet was unclogged and disconnected from the water system.
Plumbers and maintenance staff were dispatched by the Edmonds School District to MTHS to plan out the next steps in the response to the overflow.
