Decatur Water Department repairs leak

DECATUR — For the Water Department, a little leak in an underground water line led to a few big headaches June 10 as the department attempted to locate the problem near the downtown area.

On June 3 a slight drop in pressure in a three-inch water line led the Water department on a search for the pipe in the center island and southbound lane on Main Street near the railroad viaduct.

After using ground-penetrating radar and a sounding device, no leak was detected in the area. The city called in a professional utility detection company that located the pipe, or so they thought. A five-foot deep trench was dug on the island and a much smaller one on the street. A line was found but it was intact, no leaks.

The Water Department reviewed old-line maps and discovered the 40 plus-yearold pipe buried underneath a 12-inch culvert drain pipe near the Grand Saving Bank parking lot. Using the same equipment, city workers finally located the pesky leak.

Using a hydraulic-driven jackhammer, David Flynt, a Water Department employee, proceeded to dig up the concrete and asphalt road on North Main Street. The northbound lane on Arkansas 59 was closed for about four hours while the leak was repaired.

As Flynt dug deeper around the culvert, another department employee, Rocky Mills, was in the hole digging around the south side of the drainpipe when he noticed water seeping up under the bigger pipe and filling the hole. A portable sump pump kept pace with the leak while Flynt and Mills opened up the hole a little more.

As Mills dug deeper under the highway, water began filling the north side of the hole

around the drainpipe. Mills bent down and started moving dirt with his hands. Suddenly water began to gush out of the hole and Mills located the leak with his hand, which was wide enough for him to reach safely into the pipe.

Once enough soil and rock were removed around the pipe, Mills put a steel collar around the pipe and bolted it shut, sealing the leak and finishing the job.

While Rocky Mills (left) keeps an eye on a water leak while David Flynt uses a diamond-tipped concrete saw to cut a piece of the road away June 10 near Grand Saving Bank in Decatur. The rooster tail of dust behind Flynt is the result of the saw kicking fine dust along the underside of the cut and blowing it into the air. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Mike Eckels)

David Flynt uses a large jackhammer attached to a small track hoe to break up concrete and asphalt near Grands Saving Bank in downtown Decatur. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/ Mike Eckels)

Rocky Mills gets his hand inside a broken 3-inch water pipe June 10 after Decatur’s Water Department tried to locate a broken water line since June 5. The pipe ran under a larger 12-inch culvert (under Mills’ right hand) which was buried under the northbound lane of Arkansas 59 near Grand Savings Bank in Decatur. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Mike Eckels)