WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Water flooded Midwestern Parkway after a waterline break on Sunday, August 27, 2023.

Crews worked to seal the leak and had water back on for people in the late evening hours.

“Luckily it was a six-inch that was coming off of that 24 and so it affected a very small area,” Wichita Falls Utility Operations Manager Daniel Nix said.

But with no rain in recent memory, the ground has started to shift causing a big increase in water leaks.

“For the last two weeks, we’ve been experiencing over 30 per week,” Nix said. “Whenever you got a leak on a pipe, whether it’s one of my transmission mains or a leaking pipe inside your house that is a waste of water and so that’s water that was taken out of the lake, it was treated and then it wasn’t used properly.”

With the city facing stage one drought restrictions, any leak has become a high priority to limit the amount of water wasted.

Nix said through a capital improvement program, the city is able to look at the past history of mains in certain areas. If signs of leaks are increasing, money and resources go to replace lines.

“The pipes in Wichita Falls range in age from over 100 years old to brand new,” he said. “We watch those pipes we have a very resilient program of evaluation. Right now we are replacing pipes that were installed 80 years ago and have reached the end of their service line. That amount of funding applied to a capital improvement project for water pipes saves water. It keeps water in the lakes and it keeps us into a drought a little bit further, a little more drought tolerant.”

Stick with Texoma’s Homepage as we bring you the latest in ensuring water is safe for use and keeping the water on for the community.