OLDSMAR (FOX 13) -
For a day and a half, 14,000 people were without water. Oldsmar Public Works Director Lisa Rhea and her staff spent much of that time searching 100 miles of pipe and checking 4,000 valves in search of a water main break.
But in the end, a man on a dirt bike named Roy called in to say he found the break.
"We are very grateful to Roy," Rhea said.
Officials don't know anything else about Roy because he was actually one of hundreds of callers. Consistent heavy rain left many puddles of water that people mistook as the source of the leak.
Those puddles are what made it so difficult for crews to locate the leak.
So who is Roy? City spokeswoman Ann Stephan said they are trying to find him.
"We've got a couple of feelers out there to try and find out, ‘hey Roy who are you?'"
Interestingly, heavy rains may have also contributed to the water main break. The saturated ground may have been heavy enough to shift and cause the main to fail.
Now, the city is asking customers to continue boiling their water at least through Tuesday.
