Failed force main repair leads to force main break

The spill location was at the Publix at Barclay plaza.

"SPRING HILL – An accidental strike on a thrust block at 8:40 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, led to a sewage discharge into an unfinished isolated stormwater pond, according to a report made to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The incident happened at 3236 Barclay Ave., at the northeast corner of Barclay Avenue and Spring Hill Drive.

According to the website whatispiping.com, “A thrust block is a concrete pipe restraint that prevents the mainline from moving by transferring pipe loads (mainly due to pressure thrust) to a wider load-bearing surface. Usually, thrust blocks are provided for buried pipelines at fittings requiring branching or direction change. The thrust forces generated at the directional changes or tee junctions due to internal pressure thrust are taken care of by these thrust blocks, which prevents the separation of pipe joints on these pipe fitting locations. Thrust blocks are also known as thrust restraints. Thrust blocks are also sometimes referred to as anchor blocks.”

The incident resulted in the sewage discharge. At approximately 1:30 p.m. repairs were completed, and the discharge was stopped. Pump trucks were dispatched to begin removing the surface water from the stormwater pond. The volume of discharge is approximately 75,000 gallons. At approximately 5:30 p.m. the pond was fully pumped down.

However, on Tuesday, Aug. 26, according to a second report to the Florida DEP, there was another sewage discharge, this time of 200,000 gallons, after at about 7 a.m. crews found that the repair to the force main that was completed on Aug. 25 had failed.

As a result, there was a sewage discharge into an unfinished isolated storm water pond on site. At approximately 10 a.m. repairs were completed, and the discharge was stopped. Pump trucks were dispatched to begin removing the surface water from the stormwater pond. As of 10:45 p.m. pump trucks completed pumping down the pond."

Failed force main repair leads to force main break | August 27, 2025 https://www.suncoastnews.com/news/failed-force-main-repair-leads-to-force-main-break/article_618ed691-5100-44b3-bc8b-112ff4bf76ca.html