Spouting high water is not often seen in city streets, but this view occurred recently in Linden when two lines located surprisingly close together were broken. Linden had to call upon an outside utility service to take care of this major water problem. T
Water spout
The powerful picture of spouting water falling on Linden’s Oak Street last week drew different views from city employees.
The town’s utility and public works team of five employees was exasperated, said City Manager Lee Elliott.
These heralded workers are Justin Bunn, Caleb Cunningham, Carter Foreman, Dillan Pendley and Alex Washington.
“They’re tired,” said Elliott. “They were working on three other town issues when being called here. This is how difficult their job is for the town. It’s round the clock.”
“To me,” the city manager continued, “this is a symbol of the work we are getting done to improve our town’s water service. Our projects on streets and water are the largest capital improvement projects since the 1930’s. We have two different contractors working on two different things, roads and water system right now. The problem is we have an antiquated system and our guys are working a lot. But we are going to get through it, and once we do we’ll be on the on the positive side of it. That’s our goal.”
As an aside, Elliott took a moment to contrast his work with that of the town’s utility workers.
“I realize that I am an employee working in an office while the utility department workers are down in ditch, mud and water. That is what makes their work for the city so gratifying. They’re tired, but they’re here, working for us.”
The water work Elliott is speaking of is underway now in Linden. The city is getting about 40 percent of its water lines replaced under a $4.5 million USDA grant/loan program that has been almost 10 years in the making.
“Years ago when our application for this program was approved, we were going to have enough money to replace 60 percent of our needed lines. Now, with inflation, it’s 40 percent.
“But the pleasure is, we are going to get it done. Our citizens see the dirt moving.
“And then, when we accomplished this, our utility department workers will be able to be more proactive instead of just reactive. We will work better, more efficiently. That’s what I see in the spouting water on Oak Street.”
The spout on Oak Street was major. This is because the break was near to the town’s water storage tank and pressure is greater here. Also, two lines located close to each other were involved. The city itself did not have the equipment to repair such a major break. A secondary company had to be called in. The entire repair took about an hour and a half to resolve.
“We been through a lot.
Now we are seeing fruit of our labor moving in right direction. I’ve been here almost three years, but one thing I’ve notice recently, with all the water pipe stretching and all the digging, we are seeing improvement.”