A water main break reported in Hunt Valley on Friday could prompt a two-day road closure, according to the Baltimore County Department of Public Works (DPW). 

Contractors responded to the water main break around 10:30 a.m. on Friday on York Road between Ashland and Schilling roads. The section of York Road is closed for emergency repairs,  

The break is due to aging infrastructure on York Road, which officials said is being addressed through a water main project further down York Road.

"I'm just surprised that a car didn't drive over that and drop in the hole because this is really dangerous,"  said John Habicht, a Baltimore County resident.

WJZ was on the scene as water gushed into parking lots on both sides of York Road, causing flooding. 

According to an , the water has since been shut off. In turn, the water pressure has died down. 

People in the area may experience low water pressure. Nearby residents are being asked to conserve water as the county is working to distribute water properly. 

DPW has advised residents north of Shawan Road to limit all non-essential water use.  

In the meantime, water distribution is available at the Giant parking lot located at 11399 York Road, Cockeysville, MD, 21030. Bottled water is available until midnight and will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 19.

Business impact

It's unclear how many residents/businesses are impacted. However, one restaurant owner told WJZ that she sent her customers and employees away after she lost water.   

Kabreia Ellison, an employee at GBMC Health Partners, says water pressure at her office dropped, leaving the facility without water.

"We can't provide efficient and effective patient care without water," Ellison explained. "We had to cancel our patients and reschedule them...It's crazy."  

Tim Giancola, the owner of Bagel Works Hunty Valley, saw the same issue. 

"We can't run our business without running water. We are lucky," Giancola said. "We do have BGE, and that's good because it'll save our food."  

He says his restaurant has closed for the day and will remain closed into the weekend.

"We've had water main breaks before, but nothing of this magnitude," he said.  

Michael Shields, the owner of Diamond Exchange on York Road, has experienced this a handful of times.

"This is the worst of that, but this is the fourth time it's happened in like the last five or six years,"  Shields told WJZ's Kaicey Baylor.

A pool of water could be spotted behind Shields' business.

"It cost me thousands of dollars each time to get the sewer cleaned out through no fault of my own. This is all sediment that's being washed from someplace else," he explained.  

Now, his property is filled with soot and other sediments that must be cleaned out.

"I'll be sending this bill to the county, and I'm hopeful someone will actually do something about it," he said.

Shields is also asking Baltimore County officials to find a permanent fix for this issue.

"Maryland is one of the most taxed states," he said. "Fix this. It's not that difficult. They keep putting band aids on it and not fixing the underlying problem."  

Baltimore-area water main breaks

According to DPW, the last large water main break in Baltimore County was in 2023.    

The Baltimore region often sees an uptick in water main breaks during freezing temperatures in the winter. In January, DPW responded to nearly a dozen water main breaks in one day.

A variety of other factors can also cause breaks, including the age of the infrastructure. Many of the underground mains in the Baltimore area are over 100 years old

While the age of the pipes does not make them unusable, it does mean that some are in need of maintenance or replacement, the department said.

According to the , there are currently 10 water main issues in the region, including two in Baltimore County.