Burst Pipes Affect Lowell, Kirkland, Freshman Union

Three pipes burst this week in unrelated incidents, causing temporary losses of water and other services in Lowell and Kirkland Houses and the Freshman Union.

A water pipe broke in the student kitchen in Lowell's Q entry on Monday, forcing a two-hour water shutdown in that House Monday afternoon, Lowell water superintendent Andy Stephens said yesterday.

An open window apparently caused the breakage by allowing cold air to freeze the pipe, said R. Thomas Quinn, director of facilities.

The Union closed early Monday night, following a pipe burst in the basement. Although the dining hall opened on schedule yesterday, officials there said they were unsure of the cause and of whether it was a steam or water pipe.

Kirkland residents endured a steady drip of water in their dining hall yesterday, caused by a leak traced to the pipes below a second-floor room. But the resident of the room, Douglas Mason, a Kirkland tutor, said plumbers had not yet determined whether the water was coming from a leak in shower caulking, a decrepit pipe, or a clogged drainage system.