Gainesville City finalizes replacement water line to fix 1.5 million-gallon per month leak
City of Gainesville Water Specialist Jessi Price says the city is already seeing the results of its recent major water project, which included replacing a water line that ran 15-foot underground from near St. William’s Catholic Church east through the Dollar General parking lot and to near Highway 5 north. The new line is now just a couple feet underground, making it much more accessible.
“We got it completed [last] Tuesday, and so far it’s made a big difference,” Price said. “We figured we were losing somewhere around 50,000 gallons [of water] a day, and we’re seeing that was about right… it’s about 50,000 to 60,000 gallons a day.”
Price said the repair will be a big saver for the city in general.
“Everything from paying electric for the pumps to run, to the equipment…the pumps themselves, to chlorinating that water and the wear and tear on the other equipment… there was a lot that was going into it.”
The city accepted a bid from Criner Excavation of Mountain Home, Arkansas, for the project during a November 2021 city council meeting. The project clocked in at $58,700.