NHH Building 178 pipe burst 10/21/2013

4-265 Nils Hasselmo Hall - Walk In cooler

Most of this information was taken from a report by Karen Collins

Room 4-265 Nils Hasselmo Hall - Walk in Cooler.

Reported by/time reported:  Brent Garberg  W002074867 - 11am

FM on site 11am

Time emergency personnel on site:11:30 am DEHS

UMPD contacted 11:33am

DEM contacted 11:36 - Lisa Dressler

DEM page out 11:46am with status update.

Brief description of event:

Over the weekend, a cold room went into alarm.  This was in an empty lab area.  The mechanic checked it and since it was empty, it was decided to leave it until Monday.  The walk in kept getting colder, and the water pipe for the faucet in that room was frozen.  On Monday, the pipefitter was able to replace a sensor, and the cold room warmed up and the pipe blew.   He was able to get the water shut off fairly quickly.  There were approximately 100 gallons of water, and it was cleaned up with FM staff.  Neil Carlson and Cheryl Miller were called to assess. 

The base of the faucet was the source of the leak.

No shut off valve below the sink.

Chain of escalation:

Brent notified Karen Collins and Nick Manthey , and several trades and custodians were running wet vacs.  Water was cleaned up by 11:40.  Neil Carlson, Cheryl Miller, Sam Talbert and FM staff were called.  No customers were affected.

Causal Factors:

The walk in cooler started to drop in temperature, a water faucet in the room froze,  and when the unit started running normally, a pipe burst.

Action taken to remediate:

Water was cleaned up very quickly.  Base was removed from cabinets and holes were drilled.  Fans were put up.  Neil will be coming back on Tuesday to check for moisture.  The cooler will need mold remediation by FM Abatement because of mold growth on boxes and on the light fixtures.

Mold on light fixture

Moldy box stored in the cooler

What could have been done to avoid the situation?

The walk in cold room should have been monitored throughout the weekend.  Since it was empty, it could have been turned off or the door could have been propped open.  The pipefitter could have been called in as well.

Actions to be taken to avoid situation from occurring in the future:  Notification of this issue was sent to the supervisor on duty and the mechanic and supervisor that first went to look at the cold room.   It is on the agenda for a district discussion.    

Follow-up inspection 10/22/2013

There is a bubble on the seamless floor in the walk in cooler that needs to be repaired.

Bubble on floor next to cooler entrance

The base of the walls and interior insulation in 4-263 will need to be removed as the wall is not drying out .

Cold area of the wall inside 4-263 was confirmed wet with a moisture meter.

Electrical check

Circuit #2 and #12 were warm for N4LE.  Circuit #24 was warm for N4LG.  These may be only the circuits used for the floor fans but they should be checked for possible defect.

#24 N4LG

#2 N4LE

#12 N4LE