CONWAY, Ark. — Due to a water main break that happened last month, Conway Corporation implemented a water curtailment for all customers which began at 8:00 a.m. on Friday.
This means that the company asked customers in Conway to limit water use to essential needs.
Conway Corp CEO Bret Carroll explained that the leak was in a pipe that runs from Brewer Lake in Conway County all the way to the city’s Roger Q. Mills Water Treatment Plant.
“I think it was August the 29th when we first found it,” Carroll said. “And we planned repairs for the leak [to be] on September the 10th. And when we uncovered the water line, the leak was more substantial than what we thought."
While the replacement pipe is already on site, Carroll said the problem can't be fixed immediately.
"We mobilized a team out of state of welders to come in,” Carroll said. “They'll get started at about midnight tonight, and we expect them to complete that work about six o'clock in the morning."
Carroll said with any luck, that’ll end the curtailment by midday on Saturday, September 14.
However, while it’s still going on, Conway Corp asks citizens to conserve water where they can. This includes not washing clothes or dishes, not filling swimming pools, and only showering when necessary.
“If people can primarily not wash their cars,” Carroll said. “You know, nonessential uses, don't wash your car, don't irrigate, we should be in good shape. We've got good storage. We've got about 13 million gallons of storage."
If that storage runs out, the city will be in trouble as long as the water main isn't working yet. This is why Carroll hopes the project is finished as soon as possible.
"We've got a good plan to get this resolved. We hope [it's fixed] by six or seven o'clock in the morning," he added.
Carroll said Conway Corp will continue to keep customers updated through email, texts, and on the company’s Facebook page.
He also added that the company is hoping to add another parallel water line to prevent situations like this in the future.
“The water line is beginning to age,” Carroll said. “We've been working seven years now to get another parallel raw water line to our treatment plant, but acquiring easements to run a new water line just takes time. So we're working on that.”