Claverly Hall Suffers Sewage Leak

Restrictions were placed Monday night on Claverly Hall residents in response to a sewage leak that had left sewage standing in the building's basement.

"Blockage in basement. Please do not shower and use toilet as little as possible," read a sign on the Claverly Hall entrance.

The restrictions left students temporarily unwashed and thirsty. "I was lifting weights and I wanted to come back and take a shower and I couldn't. And I was thirsty." said Carey M. Knight '93.

Hygiene-minded students did not suffer long. That evening, Quincy House Superintendent Ronald W. Levesque came back from his vacation and "oversaw the clean-up and repairs," according to Lowell House Superintendent James W. Coveney Jr.

Coveney said Levesque went back on vacation yesterday. Levesque could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Bob J. MacCurtain, a plumber on the scene, said the leak occurred because the system was clogged with items such as sanitary napkins that are not flushable.

Lowell House Master William H. Bossert said "[clogging] is a very common problem. People actually flush little orange juice containers. It's very ugly when it happens."

MacCurtain said the system was quickly unclogged and the incident was "no inconvenience at all" for students, whose water service was back to normal by yesterday morning.

Joana Samhoun '93 said the water restrictions were "totally inconvenient."

"The water was off for a little while and the stench was horrible," she said.

Even students who weren't upset by the limits on their water supply had complaints.

"It didn't really bother me that much. It just smelled," said Samantha L. Allen '95.