BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The City of Bentonville is asking residents to conserve water after the main 48-inch water line has collapsed, according to the city's Director of Administration Debbie Griffin.
City leaders said the line collapse happened when a contractor hit the water line. Griffin called this a "water emergency" as it impacts all Bentonville residents and businesses.
Griffin says that the location of the break is at Hwy 112 and Wallis Road, and no boil order is in place.
Director of the Bentonville Water and Utilities System Mike Bender says they had a team on site within an hour of learning of the leak.
According to Bender, pressure in the water tank is typically around 80 - 90 psi, but the system was at about 18 psi after it was struck. Bender said the city issues boil orders if levels get to 0 psi.
At 9:45 p.m. on April 2, Griffin shared that the leak had been isolated and that the emergency connection with Rogers had been established.
"Please proceed with normal daily routines. We ask that you do not use water unnecessarily. Please do not irrigate lawns, no heavy washing such as fences or patios," Griffin said on Wednesday morning.
The City of Cave Springs is also affected and posted to Facebook that a contractor hit the line in Bentonville causing a "catastrophic failure."
"We are actively working to get water restored through the emergency Springdale connection. This may take a few hours. Thank you for your patience, while we work to get the systems switched and operating as soon as possible," the post said.
Cave Springs Mayor Randy Noblett spoke to 5NEWS about the rupture.
"A little after 5 p.m. we got a message that a contractor clipped a water line," Noblett said. "By 8:30 or 9 the water line ruptured."
Some residents said they lost water for a few short hours, but others said they didn't notice.
Madeline Geren, the manager of Joy House Coffee in Bentonville said one of her workers was out of water until early this morning. But the water was running perfectly fine for the shop when they arrived for their shifts.
While Cave Springs is currently using the Springdale emergency water line, Bentonville is receiving help from the Rogers water utility system.
"That's why it's such a team effort and it is so critical. We can continue because everybody's jumped in to help," said Bender.
"There were no concerns of contamination. We have alerted the health department and they are aware of our situation and our response," said Bender. "They have no concerns for public health."
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Noblett said that despite the inconvenient hours, he's proud of the quick action taken by the community.
"Everyone acted quickly. I mean, I've gotta commend everyone for their quick response. It's just a catastrophic rupture, and we're making every effort to get everything back up and going through the help of adjacent cities. Springdale sprang into action, as soon as I called them, and they're doing a great job," Noblett said.
While Noblett is unsure how many people in Cave Springs are affected, he believes that most are impacted in some way.
Noblett said he returned to the office after hours to help keep the public informed on social media about the emergency.
According to the City of Cave Springs in a Facebook post, Cave Springs is using an emergency water connection from Springdale and Bentonville is using an emergency water line connection from Rogers in order to have access to water.
Cave Springs says these emergency connections will continue to be used for the next few days while the water line is being prepared. While water conservation is still requested, there is no need to boil water after the break, officials said.
On Wednesday morning, workers told 5NEWS they've been working all night pumping water out of the ground so they can get down to the broken pipe to repair it.
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