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KINGSTON — Wednesday was business as usual for many West Side businesses, which closed Tuesday due to a massive water main break in Kingston.

Tuesday morning, businesses in Forty Fort, Kingston, Swoyersville, Edwardsville and Luzerne had no water, murky water or a trickle caused by a ruptured 30-inch water main at the intersection of West Walnut and Mercer streets.

The breakage caused an interruption of water service to nearly 6,600 Pennsylvania American Water customers.

Several area restaurants, including Canteen 900, closed.

Abby Singh, owner of Canteen 900, learned of the water outage early Tuesday morning. By 7:30 a.m., she made a difficult decision close the restaurant.

“We had some water,” Singh said. “It was timing. It was easier to close than to open and then close because of no water.”

Breaking the news to long-time customers was difficult.

“We have this older customer, Stanley, who comes for coffee,” she said. “He called to see if we were open, and I had to tell him we had no coffee — we were closed.”

Closing decision

Singh based her decision to closed on concerns related to potential water service interruptions during the day. It would have created a difficult situation with washing dishes and restrooms, she said.

Lisa Anglovich, manager at Abe’s Hot Dogs on West Walnut Street in Kingston, closed the restaurant for the same reasons.

“We had some water Tuesday,” Anglovich said. “The main reason we were closed was because of the restrooms.”

Low water pressure prevented efficient flushing of the toilets, she said.

Frank DeViva, owner of the Bakehouse, was unsure about opening for business Wednesday if water service was not restored.

On Tuesday, the Bakehouse in Kingston was open but had no water. The staffs’ practice of preparing for the next business day by filling the coffee maker tank and a 40-gallon kettle, allowed the restaurant to open, he said.

On Wednesday staff at the Bakehouse confirmed they had full pressure water service and were dishing up bagels and coffee to a full house.

Water was flowing into Canteen 900 Wednesday as well.

Lost day

But recovering from a lost day can be a challenge.

Singh is looking into the “loss of business” portion of her business insurance policy to see if it could cover the days lost.

“Utility bills do not stop, rent and food bills do not stop,” she said. “It hurts.”

Singh had to cancel a catering order and a huge order that came in earlier Tuesday morning. Plus, her staff missed a day’s pay.

Wednesday was a better day — Canteen 900’s dining room was filled, and staff were hustling — all day.

“Today was really busy,” Singh said. “All our loyal customers came out.”

By Eileen Godin

[email protected]

Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.