Fayetteville Water Main Bursts at Worst Time

A water main burst in Fayetteville Saturday morning, just as the town’s Lickskillet celebration was about to get underway.

Fayetteville Mayor Mike Stroup said the City discovered an old main water pipe that broke on FM 1291 near the post office around 7 a.m.

“It was near to where we just repaired it a few months ago,” Stroup said.

The City shut down the water supply around 9 a.m. Crews replaced a three-foot section of the pipe, Stroup said. It was back in service around 12:15 p.m. following the repairs. However, the town remained under a boil water notice until Tuesday morning.

Lots of folks were in town for the Lickskillet celebration that day.

“The restaurants scrambled to get good water from other sources through the weekend,” Stroup said. “They made due and stayed open. It was a very successful Lickskillet. The weather was perfect, and everyone seemed to be in good spirits.”

Stroup said the City has been awarded a $3.4 million grant for water and sewer improvements.

“That is one of the areas that will be redesigned,” Stroup said. “Right now, we don’t have the ability to cut off water to separate parts of town. All of the water goes down if we have to cut it off. In the future, we’ll be able to cut off parts of town if there’s a problem.”