Several Emporia businesses and apartment dwellers lost water service for better than seven hours after a water main break Monday.
The break occurred outside the Kwik Shop convenience store just before 11 am, prompting Emporia city officials to turn off water service along Merchant between 10th and 12th as well as 12th between Commercial and Merchant. The disruption to service affected Kwik Shop, Country Mart, the strip mall in the 10 block of West 12th and several apartment buildings in the 1000 and 1100 block of Merchant.
Water service started getting restored around 6:20 pm.
11:25 am Monday: Pipe break shuts off water service to several downtown Emporia businesses, apartments
For the third time in a week, Emporia Public Works has to repair a significant water main break in the city limits.
The latest failure is just outside Kwik Shop near 12th and Merchant, with a concrete cutout in the alley just west of the business and water bubbling to the surface near the 12th Avenue entrance. The city says a 12-inch line failed just before 11 am.
Water has been turned off on Merchant from 10th to 12th, meaning impacts to Kwik Shop, Country Mart and several nearby apartments. Water is also off on 12th between Commercial and Merchant, affecting the strip mall on the south side of the street. There is no word of any impact to Emporia State University.
It could be at least late afternoon or early evening before water service is restored to the impacted areas.
This follows the early Sunday failure of a six-inch line just north of William Allen White Elementary, which caused East 10th to be closed between Cottonwood and Exchange as a precautionary measure until temperatures improved and preliminary repairs were completed by early afternoon. This also follows the failure of a 20-inch line near Arrowhead Drive and Flint Road this past Tuesday that led to several homeowners calling the city’s Accounting Office because of flooding.
