There has been a lot of attention paid to Emporia’s water line network — with good reason after several water main breaks in July and August — but stats released by the city of Emporia this week indicate the number of water main breaks on a year-to-date level are on par with the recent past.
City Communications Manager Christine Torrens released information showing 27 water main breaks from January to July, both for this year and last year. Since 2019, the most water main breaks in that January-to-July time period was 37 in 2021. 2020 had the fewest with 17.
On KVOE’s Morning Show on Wednesday, City Public Works Director Dean Grant recognized the interest in Emporia’s waterline system, especially after a massive water main break near 15th and Prairie in 2017 and subsequent breaks across town affecting an aging system. The city has taken significant steps to upgrade the network since 2018, and Grant says there are two massive projects ahead to continue that work. One of those involves a transmission line from the Water Treatment Plant east along 24th and then south on Prairie to 12th.
The project was initially set to end at 18th before water main leaks prompted the city go further south. Work will take about a year to complete.
Meanwhile, the city is also planning for what’s called the Southeast Transmission Main Project, going from 12th and Garfield ultimately to the Industrial Park 3 water tower. The design phase will last up to 18 months, with construction taking another two to three years to complete after the design phase is done. Grant says the route for the southeast project was chosen based on the city’s concentration of past water main breaks, and the city is planning to handle most of those zones as part of the overall project.
Residents can sign up for the city’s MyAlert notification system for information about water main breaks, traffic or sanitation adjustments and other city information by going to emporiaks.gov.
