Water back on at South Philadelphia businesses

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Several popular South Philadelphia businesses reopened today after water woes forced them to shut down.

The problem is a water main break that happened back in March near the 1600 block of 10th Street.

The ruptured pipe is still not fixed.

Businesses, including Varallo Brothers Bakery, say they've lost customers because the repairs are blocking their street.

"Out of town customers don't know the routes, which way to go. It's blocked so far, they have to go out of the range two to three blocks to get here. Also just for us to go around the corner, there's only one way streets," Giovanna Varallo-Boughanni said.

The Water Department says the fix will take a few more months, and they may need to randomly turn the water off and on again during that time.

Water Department spokesperson John DiGiulio says they already declared this an emergency repair job to make sure it is all finished as quickly as possible.

"Emergency repair job means they are bid quickly and worked on as quickly as possible to restore the street, the sewer, the water main, and get everything back open in a timely manner," DiGiulio said.