HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — The Hot Springs Village Property Owners’ Association has banned all outdoor water use until further notice because the community’s distribution system is in “critical condition.”
A large water-main break discovered early Friday contributed to the problem, General Manager Scott Randall said.
More than 1 million gallons of water were lost through the leak, on top of Hot Spring Village’s largest-ever daily consumption level Thursday of 3.95 million gallons, Randall said.
The property owners’ association also asked residents Friday to limit their domestic water use to essential purposes only, which includes limiting the use of dishwashers and washing machines.
If the water-distribution system continues to lose water or pressure, a boil order may be necessary, a news release said.
All large water users also are closed until further notice, including DeSoto Pool, Coronado Pool and showers at the Coronado Fitness Center.
The Department of Public Works is working to find and repair all leaks and to restore service as soon as possible, the release said.
Steve Mallett, Hot Springs’ deputy city manager for public works and utilities, said the city’s water system is “able to meet the demand and is not having any operational issuesat either one of our plants.”
“If things don’t get a whole lot worse in terms of water demand, and we don’t see much of an increase, we should be OK. But I would caution and ask the public to practice good water conservation habits and practices.
“Anything we can do to limit our water usage at this point is always a help to the city and our system during the hot summer months,” he said.
Mallett said that if Hot Springs should have a large water leak similar to that of Hot Springs Village, “we might have to do the same thing, but right now we’re able to keep up and keep the tanks full.”
With temperatures rising above 100 degrees for severaldays, Mallett said the water system has already had one day when it produced 22.6 million gallons of potable water, which is higher than last year’s maximum.
“We’re still just a hair under the all-time max day, but it’s likely we may exceed that at some point during the summer,” he said.
While there have been no problems meeting the water demands, both city watertreatment plants are operating “closer to capacity than we’re comfortable with.”
“We’re not at maximum, but we’re fairly close to it,” Mallett said.
“If we don’t have any major events, we should be OK for the foreseeable future, and we’ll keep the people posted if anything does happen.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 06/30/2012