CENTRAL TEXAS — According to the Bell County Water Control and Improvement District (WCID), last Thursday, a leak was found on the 48-inch water main that delivers water from the Belton Water Treatment Plant to Station 6, near Fort Hood Street and Veterans Memorial Boulevard.
"This leak is within the segment to be replaced within the next year with a bid date of April 10," WCID said.
"This pipeline is the primary delivery facility for Killeen, Fort Cavazos, Copperas Cove and others served by Bell County Water Control & Improvement District #1 (WCID 1)."
Repair efforts are continuing on the 48-inch main break on Fort Cavazos — WCID is asking all of its customers to continue in the Drought Contingency Plan, resulting in an approximate 30 percent water use reduction.
A damaged section of the water main was replaced overnight then placed back into service at about 8:30 on Tuesday morning, when a leak was discovered on the upstream pipe segment.
The upstream pipe joint has a crack that appears to extend the entire length of the joint, which is being excavated so that it can be examined to assess what repairs will be needed — excavation is expected to last until 5 or 6 p.m. on Tuesday due to presence of large solid rock on both sides of the pipe.
It is anticipated that repairs could take another 24 to 36 hours.
"WCID 1 would like to express thanks to Killeen, Copperas Cove, Harker Heights and Nolanville for asking for a reduction in water use. The reduced water consumption will allow the extended repairs to be completed without outages," officials said.
For more information, contact Ricky Garrett at 254-501-9243 or email general@wcid1.org.
BROADCAST SCRIPT (April 1):
Bell County WCID asked the cities to reduce water usage by 30 percent after a four foot water main busted about a mile into Fort Cavazos.
That main supplies nearly a third of the water to both cities, as well as to Fort Cavazos and Copperas Cove.
25 News spoke with the Ricky Garrett, General Manager of WCID 1, who said that section of pipe is already scheduled to be replaced.
"We'd gone a pretty good while between breaks and we were due, I guess," Garrett said.
"We were hoping to have a contractor working before we had to go through another one of these breaks."
Welders and other crews are expected to work through the night and complete the work by Tuesday afternoon.
Work could take longer if crews run into unexpected problems while working.
If you live in a city that is under a Stage 4 restriction, that means stop all unnecessary use of water like washing your car or watering lawns.
More information on the restrictions can be found on your city's website.
