Arlington Blames Six Water Main Breaks On Higher Water Usage

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ARLINGTON (CBS11) The city says it will take several days to repair all six water main breaks. They happened Thursday in various areas around I-20. Four of them should be completed by Friday morning.

As of late Thursday afternoon, the city says about a dozen customers still had no water. Others will still have lower water pressure.

The city blames all of the breaks on higher water usage this summer.

The city says the higher water usage has increased pressure on the system's most vulnerable pipes, causing some to break.

The city says it's been able to minimize water loss thanks to a new valve operating system which helps crews identify problem valves.

Residents like Danielle Jetton say they got a rude awakening Thursday morning when they realized they had no water.

Jetton says she was relieved when the water was turned back on in her house Thursday afternoon. She says she and her family had to get creative. "To flush a toilet, we got water out of the pool, and it was like putting gallons into the toilet so you could flush. We haven't been able to wash our hands so we've been using hand sanitizer, so it's been hard."

Jetton says while crews were still out in her neighborhood at W. Pleasant Ridge Road near Pleasant Oaks Court, she was afraid to take a shower, just in case there was another problem, which would lead to the water being shut off.

The city says it hopes to find out Friday how many gallons of water it lost and how many residents were impacted.
As for traffic, West Pleasant Ridge Road is down from four lanes to two, one lane each way.

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