Lawrence City crews repair 16-inch water main break; boil advisory issued and lifted after tests

City staff reported that a 16-inch water main split at the 50 Ninth Street Water Treatment Plant in the early hours of Saturday, March 15, prompting a precautionary citywide boil-water advisory that was lifted after laboratory results returned.

A staff member presenting to the meeting said, "As you're aware, Saturday, March 15 in the early morning, our water system experienced low pressure. The on call phone started receiving calls at around 12:30 to 12:40AM in the morning. Andy Hall, the director of operations, was notified by 12:45 of the situation." The presenter said crews called in 13 employees to search for the break and located it "within an hour" inside the fenced area directly in front of the plant.

The speaker said the destroyed pipe was a 16-inch PVC with a "longitudinal split at the bell" and that crews replaced "approximately 14 and a half feet" of pipe. Staff reported they isolated the break by throttling and valving the system to keep positive pressure, and that the water towers still contained "approximately 80 feet of water" so towers were not drained.

Lightning and a tornado warning delayed some fieldwork, the presenter said, which affected the timing for utility locates. Excavation to access the pipe began at about 5:45 a.m. Saturday, and staff reported the repair and backfill were completed by 2 a.m. on Sunday; the presenter said the plant "was back in service and everything was operating normally." Samples were collected and delivered to a third-party laboratory first thing Monday morning because the laboratory was closed over the weekend.

Board members asked for details about the cause and communications. When asked "So what broke exactly?" the presenter replied, "16 inch PVC. And it was the way when we uncovered it, it had a longitudinal split at the bell." On the cause, the presenter said the pipe was about 20 years old and "could have been overbuild when it was installed" or could have been defective; the presenter said the break was not related to nearby new construction.

One board member said some residents reported receiving notice when the advisory began but not when it was lifted and urged staff to ensure board members receive notification before the general public in future incidents. The presenter said the city followed IDEM guidelines, that door-to-door notification was impractical for a citywide advisory, and that staff is working on a mass-communication plan.

The meeting record shows the board thanked staff and the crews for the repair work. No fines, enforcement actions or new capital projects were announced during the discussion.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to accept the minutes from the March 11, 2025 meeting — motion carried (accepted as submitted). - Sanitary sewer adjustment at 4744 Charney Park for $545.52 due to a service-line leak — motion carried (approved). - Sanitary sewer adjustment at 7919 Kersey Drive for amount recorded in the minutes as "36732" due to a spigot leak — motion carried (amount as recorded in minutes; decimal placement not specified). - Motion to adjourn — motion carried.

(All votes recorded in the meeting minutes were carried; the meeting transcript does not list individual vote counts.)