Sparta’s North Spring Water Leak Thursday Stopped With Quick Response

The cleanup continues after a broken water line in Sparta Thursday along North Spring Street.

Sparta Water Superintendent Greg O’Neal and Public Works Director Dillard Quick responded quickly to get the water line fixed. O’Neal said he appreciated all the hard work from his, as they were the ones in the ditch.

“We’ve had breaks in systems all throughout the year,” O’Neal said. “Our biggest priority is to getting it mouthed off and making sure customers have water. That’s all because of the men that work under us, they’re the ones doing all the hard work.”

O’Neal said he thinks the break was caused by the ground shifting around the water line which can erupt weaker points in the pipes. O’Neal said that breaks like these can happen in an older water system such as Sparta’s as the ground gets dry and shifts.

“We just hound the logistics of the men and find the necessary valves to slow the water down so that we could make the necessary repairs. Logistics basically.”

O’Neal said that Quick maintained contact with emergency services regarding how to best direct traffic and other assistance.

“We caught it in time, like I said it was on the corner of the road,” O’Neal said. “It did affect the turning lane but we had the city of Sparta police department as well as some of their safety vehicles out with their signs up. Everything went really well considering where it was at.”

O’Neal said once his team was on sight of the project, the repairs took about three hours.