Aging line causes additional problems for Stark Road area

Problems with an aging water line caused interruptions in city water service for many on Stark Road over the last couple days, which persisted into Friday as Starkville Utilities crews encountered additional issues.

Around noon on Friday, Starkville Utilities said the initial repairs were complete on the damaged 12-inch water Kemp line and service was restored. However, crews identified another issue that saw service interrupted into the afternoon.

Starkville Utilities General Manager Terry Kemp confirmed the problems were caused by an older pipe with a different type of fitting that was no longer in use by the utility. Both failures on Friday occurred at connection points, but the issues were identified and repaired.

“We have had two additional leaks on that same 12-inch line that our guys have been working on all day,” Kemp said Friday afternoon. “Those have been repaired and the system is back in service.”

Kemp said in the early phases after service was restored, there may be pressure building up, which prompted crews to take a slow approach with returning service.

Starkville Utilities reported the first affected line at about 11:15 a.m. Thursday and had restored service shortly thereafter before another outage was conducted around 7 p.m. Thursday night.

The evening outage was reportedly due to water usage by some of the businesses in that area and Starkville Utilities said full pressure won't be possible until the repair is completely finished.

After water service is restored, Starkville Utilities recommends using cold water to check to see if the water is back on. Those impacted may experience rust or tea-colored water when the faucet is first turned on, but if the water is run for a few minutes, it should become clear.

“We've tried to communicate and we do value our customers and appreciate their patience when situations like this happen,” Kemp said. “All three occurrence, none were anticipated, then we have to respond to identify, then isolate and repair.”

Starkville Utilities will provide updates on social media as they come available.

In an unrelated utility project,

a boil water notice issued earlier this week has been lifted for the area of University Drive from North Nash Street to the Studio East Apartments.

Those who believe their service may still be impacted can call Starkville Utilities at (662) 323-3133.