MAPLEWOOD, White Bear Township — During a cold snap like the one currently wrapped around Minnesota and parts of the Midwest, water doesn't stay in liquid form for long.
It turns to ice, and in White Bear Township there's plenty of it after a malfunction with one of the community's water towers sent more than 100,000 gallons spilling to the ground.
Public Works Director Dale Reed says a pump sensor that determines water levels failed in Tuesday's frigid temps, causing that pump to keep filling the water tower even after it was full. Water eventually spilled out of the top of the water tower, cascading down the sides and onto the streets below.
Several side streets were closed, and nearby County Road F was partially shut down as crews attempted to clean up the spilled water as it quickly turned to ice. Those roads are mostly open now, and township workers are chipping ice from the driveways of residents.
If there is good news, it's that water levels stayed high so township homes did not lose water service.