A contractor struck a water main leading to the Commerce water treatment plant Tuesday and despite crews working since that time, the entire water system remains out of service as of Wednesday morning.
“We were notified yesterday around lunchtime that a contractor hit the main coming from the water plant,” Commerce Mayor Clark Hill said in a video from the site Wednesday morning. “Unfortunately, this disrupted service for a number of our customers. Our crews were onsite until almost 1 a.m. last night finishing up the repair.”
It was after that repair was completed that another problem arose.
“Unfortunately, when we pressurized the system last night, it became evident that the damage was much more extensive than we had anticipated and there was a crack in the cast iron pipe further away from the repair that we made,” Hill said.
Crews returned to the site about 4 a.m. Wednesday and continue to work on repairs.
“I’m sorry for any inconvenience for businesses and for people who are homebound right now with their children,” Hill said. “Please know that our crews are working as diligently as they can, and they’ve been here almost 24 hours trying to make this repair.”
The outage affects Commerce as well as areas outside the city, including a section of Banks Crossing, and could last most of Wednesday.
After the repair is completed, the city will begin the process of refilling its system and elevated tanks. Once the system is pressurized, flushing and safety testing will occur.
The city has issued a Boil Water Advisory affected all City of Commerce Water System customers and that will remain in effect until further notice.
