Broken Water Line to Cause Widespread Water Outage

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The City of Hattiesburg Water and Sewer Department is working to fix a 20 inch water line that was punctured Tuesday morning on the corner of East 7th and J.D. Randolph street.

According to a press release from the city railroad contractors worked to connect a communications line between the cities of Gulfport and Jackson.

The ruptured water line is going to cause widespread water outage—indefinitely—to the areas between New Orleans and Providence Streets says the city.

Crews must first locate and turn off 15-25 water valves before they are able to begin repairing the line. Mayor Johnny DuPree said crews are working to repair the water line.

“Workers are already headed to Jackson for parts, so they can come back and repair this line" said Mayor DuPree.

He added, "We will probably lose a street because it is undermining, so we will have to reconstruct the streets, probably, water lines and sewer lines when this is all said and done.”

Water and Sewer Director Chad Frierson said his crews are working as quickly as possible to restore water to the impacted areas.

City officials are also issuing a boil-water notice to residents of the impacted areas.