TURBOTVILLE — A broken valve left most of Turbotville without water for much of Thursday while workers dug up Main Street and replaced the valve.

The trouble started Wednesday afternoon. Workers from Fairchild Brothers Inc. had shut off water to part of Main Street so they could install some new lines to a development under construction. When they attempted to turn the water back on, the stem of the valve, some five feet under the surface of the street, snapped off.

To provide water to that part of town Wednesday evening, Warrior Run Area Fire Department laid five- inch hose between two hydrants.

Fairchild workers dug up the intersection of Main and Church streets to replace the broken valve. They found two nearby valves were also in poor shape, so it was decided to replace all three valves.

This work necessitated shutting off water to almost the entire town at 7 a.m. By 2 p.m., they were lowering the last valve into the muddy hole. Traffic on Main Street, which is also Route 44, was single-lane during the time the work was underway.

“It should take another hour or hour and a half,” an unidentified worker said.

The water shutoff forced the cancellation of school at Turbotville Elementary School. Teachers did report to school, but the students had an unexpected holiday from school.