A sign posted to the Hoang Gia Vietnamese Cuisine in the plaza says the restaurant is closed due to flooding.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A Vietnamese restaurant in Kelowna has closed today due to a water main break in Rutland.

Last night, May 29, residents reported a large pool of water in the parking lot of the former Costco site off of Highway 97 with some reporting brown water coming out of their taps.

Water from the break remains this morning in the parking lot of the neighbouring Kelowna Crossing Shopping Centre.

A sign posted to the Hoang Gia Vietnamese Cuisine in the plaza says the restaurant is closed due to flooding. Calls to the restaurant’s line were not answered. Employees at the nearby Dollarama declined to comment.

A water main break caused flooding in the Kelowna Crossing Shopping Centre.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Neighbouring business Premium Pool and Spa experienced flooding in the store, but marketing manager Lorenz Plourde said none of the equipment was damaged other than some cardboard boxes. The water had receded and fans were blowing in the store by Monday morning.

“It’s a hot tub, the worst that could happen to us is cardboard damage,” he said. “It was weird that this happened on the day of (a sale).”

Dave Metcalfe, Rutland Waterworks District operations manager, said he wasn't sure why the pipe burst, but they've stopped the flow of water and expect to compete the repairs by the end of the day.

With the volume of water being released from the eight-inch PVC pipe, sediment that was stirred up in the bottom of the pipe ended up coming through residents taps, he said.

"It seems like everything is back to normal and the water is settling down," he said.

The Dollarama's loading bay is still full of water but it appears to be draining slowly and the Chevron Gas Station is the only business in the vicinity without water. Now the water is back under control, crews will be pumping the water out of the bay, he said.

- This story was updated May 30, at 1 p.m. to include a comment from Metcalfe.

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