Water main break

A water main break on North 7th street in Bismarck has left a city block without water throu...  More »

A water main break on North 7th street in Bismarck has left a city block without water through Wednesday. Keith Demke of Bismarck Public Works says people who live on 7th street from Boulevard Avenue to East Avenue F will not have water for awhile. But he says there is work being done to correct several breaks that left water shooting up through the road pavement. (Keith Demke, Utility Operations Director) It's probably related to the fact that we've got old cast iron pipes in this area. Right now the system is kind of under pressure because we're delivering a lot of water and we're also doing some fire hydrant testing in this area. And the combination of those things probably found a weak spot in one of the pipes. Demke says those without water because of the water main break can contact Bismarck Public Works for cost reimbursement on the bottled water they purchase until things get back to normal. (Keith Demke, Utility Operations Director) We're going to open the line and let them get a little bit of water ahead of time. But if somebody is not home and they need water sometime during the night until we get this fixed through tomorrow, they can go get some bottled water and bring the receipts down to the Public Works building at 601 South 26th Street. 7th Street near Boulevard will still have one lane open to traffic tonight. Demke says the city of Bismarck usually has between 30 to 40 water main breaks every year.  « Less