Several El Dorado Water Utilities customers were left without water service earlier this week as the EWU worked to repair water leaks on East Main, east of Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Some residential customers reported that their service was shuttered for more than 24 hours after repairs began at approximately 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Water service was reportedly restored for some customers Wednesday evening.
John Peppers, general manager of the EWU, said crews ran into a few issues that delayed work on the project.
EWU crews got started in 1500 block of East Main between South Roselawn and Clark avenues. The area is a mix of residential and commercial properties.
"The first problem was at Dollar General (1503 E. Main) and the second problem was by East Main Baptist Church (1903 E. Main)," Peppers said.
As crews wrapped up repairs in the 1500 block of East Main and moved eastward for more repairs in along East Main, a valve stem broke, and workers were not able finish the job before nightfall Tuesday.
Peppers explained that before the EWU can start a project that calls for a dig or bore, the utilities must first contact Arkansas One Call to locate underground utilities.
"Gone are the old days where we could just go in and start digging. Now we have 'One Call.' We have to call them and that takes time. You've got to wait on locates," Peppers said.
Peppers said workers started back up early Wednesday morning and worked throughout the day.
Crews encountered old service line connections with lead gooseneck pipes underneath the westbound lane on East Main.
"We found a couple of tie-ins from a service line that was tapped onto the water main. They used that lead gooseneck back in the 1950s but they have not used that in years," Peppers said.
"We still come across them from time to time and when we do, we replace them, so when we saw them, there was no better time than to do it right there," he continued.
By late Wednesday afternoon, the job had largely been completed, with hook-ups remaining for a couple of service lines.
Peppers apologized to customers who were inconvenienced and left without water service during the project.
Several residential customers in the area complained about not having been notified in advance that their service would be shuttered.
Some reported that their service was out for more than 24 hours after stopping at approximately 2 p.m. Tuesday and starting at approximately 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The EWU office and after-hours/weekends number (870-862-6451 and 870-862-1912, respectively) was reportedly flooded with calls and complaints on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Just little simple things you couldn't do, like washing your hands, to doing your laundry or taking a bath or a shower, without water," said one resident who lives in the area of East Main and Hudson Street.
"We really don't have much of a way to broadcast it and get it out to the entire neighborhood on such short notice," Peppers said. "It was one of those bad situations that we found ourselves in and we apologize to the people who were affected."