50 homes in Ranchos Sally Lane neighborhood under boil water order

A boil water order was issued Friday for about 50 Gardnerville Ranchos homes in the Sally Lane neighborhood.

A break in a water main was repaired today, which resulted in the line being open to the air, requiring testing.

Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District Manager Greg Reed said it was the seventh leak this week in the old Schedule 40 PVC pipe that serves the area.

The old pipe may be breaking due to heave as the ground around the pipes starts to thaw after the winter.

“We believe that frozen ground is now thawing out and is shifting as a result of that thawing action, thus breaking the inferior schedule 40 pipe,” Reed said. “We hope that the ground will stop moving once it is fully thawed and we believe that the full replacement of the schedule 40 will prevent future main breaks from occurring.”

The district is working to replace all the old pipeline with the first phase that started last year and is almost done.

The second phase of the project will likely be split into two parts because of price increases and the third phase must still be designed and will probably be built in 2024 or 2025.

In the meantime, affected Ranchos residents will probably have to boil water through the weekend.