By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MIDDLETOWN - Where's a little Dutch boy when you need one?

That's what Middletown water officials were wondering this week while scrambling to find and plug a mysterious leak spewing millions of gallons of water since Monday evening.

Wednesday, with the aid of specially designed listening devices, city water officials were able to find the leak in a long-abandoned warehouse in the 800 block of Central Avenue - after losing almost 15 million gallons of water.

"It's just one of those things that happen," said Art Baer, maintenance service director for Middletown. "An old valve had broken loose on an 8-inch service line that passed through the warehouse."

City residents didn't notice any change in water pressure or service because city facilities increased water pumping and processing during the leak, which was discovered Wednesday morning. Baer said the leaking water had flowed out of the warehouse through cracks in the building's foundation and into an old canal ditch nearby that empties into the Great Miami River.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com