Households in Rossville without water for a day

Hundred of households in Rossville went without water for a day last week, and one school had to dismiss students early, after lines broke in the Mission Ridge and Happy Valley areas.

Walker County Coordinator David Ashburn said hundreds of thousands of gallons were spilled over a 36-hour period, from Tuesday night, Sept. 13, through Thursday afternoon, Sept. 15.

The current drought contributed greatly to the line breaks. During extremely dry conditions, he said, the ground shifts and pipes crack.

The first water main break occurred Tuesday night, Sept. 13, in Rossville’s Mission Ridge Road area. A crew worked more than 16 hours around the clock to restore water by the next day, but pressure remained low for many customers. The break affected about 800-900 households, Ashburn said.

The break, which involved a ma- jor water line, was near the BP gas station at the intersection of Mission Ridge and McFarland Gap roads. About 20 feet of line had to be replaced, Ashburn said.

The crew used hydrants to flush dirt and debris out of the lines.

As a crew was working to repair that break, water line breaks occurred Thursday morning in the Happy Valley Road area.

A private company was called in to mark locations clear of other utilities where it was safe for crews to dig, Ashburn said. The private company was used because it has Georgia Environmental Protection Division monitoring.

Crews were able to restore water to most of the area by Thursday afternoon, but not before Ridgeland High School was forced to dismiss students.

Ashburn said the county’s Water Authority budgets in advance for these types of breaks, which are costly.