The city experiences a water main break around Chowen Springs Park, but a social media post over the weekend with incorrect information caused confusion.

The break was around 801 17th St. S. and city utilities staff isolated four valves to shut down the break, with five residential blocks on 8th Avenue South impacted, according to Jake McKenna, city utilities division manager.

The social media post indicated water outage from Gibson Park to Walgreens on 10th Avenue South, which was inaccurate, and McKenna told The Electric that the Walgrees wasn’t impacted as it’s in a different pressure zone connected at 10th Avenue South.

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The water main break was found around 1 a.m. March 23 and city staff turned the main to low volume in an effort to keep providing water to residents while plans were made to repair the break on Monday, but the city began receiving calls around 7 a.m. about water outages, according to the city.

City staff said they made attempts to adjust the flow to restore service to the area, but it couldn’t be done without causing further damage, at which point a full crew was called in, underground utility lines were located and digging began around noon.

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The water main was repaired and water service restored by 4:30 p.m. March 23.

McKenna told The Electric that a crew of seven employees responded to the emergency repair once they were called into work. He said they don’t call in a crew unless the standby personnel deem it necessary to make repairs immediately. McKenna said they have two crew members on call 24/7, one for water calls and one for sanitary sewer calls.

The main that broke on Sunday is a 16-inch cast iron main installed in 1953 and it wasn’t due for replacement at this time, McKenna told The Electric.

The road damage near the main is isolated to the dead end road going into Chowen Springs Park, McKenna said.

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The park disruption is minimal since the water had recede into the storm water system within an hour of isolating the main, McKenna said, and the park is a natural stormwater detention pond.

After repairs were made and water pressure restored, city crews flush the water mains through the fire hydrants to remove as much debris as possible, but residents in the affected area may see dirty water or air through their faucets and are encouraged to flush it through a hose bib or bath tub at rear of their residence, McKenna told The Electric.

The city increased water utility rates last year and staff said the increase would help fund increasing operating costs, including $16.3 million in ongoing water main replacements during this fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30.

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The city works to replace water mains annually, depending on age, material type and frequency of breaks, among other factors.

In 2022, commissioners approved a $1 million contract to replace mains on the southwest side that dated to 1892, 1913 and 1956, according to the city public works department.

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That year, they also approved a $1.99 million contract to replace southside water mains that dated to 1891, 1903 and 1919, according to the city public works department.

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In 2020, commissioners approved a $2.48 million contract to replace water mains on the lower northside that were about 130 years old.

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The water main break near Chowen Springs was separate and independent from the hole in Gibson Park next to the bathrooms and concessions hut.

Kevin Vining, park supervisor for Parks and Recreation, told The Electric that work was related to issues with the bathroom sewer line.

Parks and Rec had been having trouble with the sewer line since people flush a variety of items down the toilets and it was no longer responding to snaking or jetting.

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Vining told The Electric that the line was backing up and staff snaked it several times until it was plugged to the point it was plugged and they had to dig it up.

The city hired Capcon for some camera work on the sewer line for a nominal cost and the work was otherwise done by city staff and a plumber.

He said the line was cleared, will be reconnected and the hole filled and that city staff is finishing the work hopefully by the end of next week.