The past two weeks have been hard on Emporia’s water system — and on the Public Works employees tasked with fixing all the water leaks that have developed.
A final count is pending, but following Saturday’s breaks on West 12th near Lincoln and on West Ridge Drive, Emporia has now had more water main breaks in the past two weeks than it did in all of July 2017. Public Works Director Frank Abart tells KVOE News drought, heat and aging infrastructure are the main reasons for all the recent activity.
The failure on West 12th was serious because two nearby valves also failed, meaning the city’s water system lost several hundred thousand gallons of water before that line was finally shut off. Much of Emporia had lower-than-normal water pressure as a result.
Abart says the city is starting discussions about possibly changing its 5-year capital improvement plan to put more emphasis on replacing the older lines.
Click here for KVOE’s coverage of Saturday’s water main breaks.
