This article discusses HSV water line issues that lead to boil orders in Hot Springs Village and what the Public Services Department is doing to identify and fix the issues.

Recently, Hot Springs Village experienced two water main pipe bursts on September 18 and 19, affecting approximately 1,600 to 1,700 homes and 600 homes, respectively. To his knowledge, Ken Unger, Director of Public Services, said in the history of the Village, these water outages were the largest the Village has had to contend with.

Hot Springs Village POA notified residents of the breaks and precautionary boil orders. Although the POA provided the notification to residents, the boil orders were issued by the Arkansas State Department of Health.

State of Water Service in Hot Springs Village Arkansas
For Illustrative Purposes, Only [Image Credit: (MGN, Karlis Dambrans / CC BY 2.0)]

When issuing a precautionary boil order, the state uses a formula that considers the number of homes affected and the duration of the water outage. The Hot Springs Village Public Utilities Department is responsible for providing the details to the State Health Department. Unger said, “A boil order is predicated on whether or not the triggers are hit.” A precautionary boil order means only that contamination is possible. In other words, it is not known yet if there is contamination.

Upon repair of the pipes and water service restoration, the POA is legally obligated to provide water samples for testing to the State Department of Health. It is not until the water is “cleared” by the State that a boil order is lifted.

The boil orders issued on September 18 and 19 were precautionary. After a main burst, the POA cannot legally say the water is fit for ingestion until it is tested by the state and deemed safe.

Be careful not to ingest water when showering when a boil order is in effect.

Two Types of Boil Water Orders

The state can issue two types of boil orders, and evidence of contamination determines the type issued.

Mandatory Boil Order

A mandatory boil order is issued when there is proof of a microbiological contaminant in the water.

Precautionary Boil Order

Precautionary Boil Order Sign (For Illustrative Purpose Only)

A Precautionary Boil Order is issued when it is unknown if the water is contaminated. In the case of a precautionary boil order, Unger said, “We are saying we don’t know until we get the test back, so we recommend that you boil the water to be safe.”

Unger said that during his tenure with the Hot Springs Village POA, we have not received any negative test results on the water samples.

Restoration of Water Service and What Residents May Notice

Unger said when water service is restored after an outage, residents may notice two things:

  1. Air that infiltrates the water line can cause your water to sputter when turning on the faucet and give your water a cloudy appearance. This issue is easily solved by running water from your cold water taps until the sputtering ceases.
  2. After a pipe burst, dislodged mineral sediment in the lines may cause your water to be discolored. This sediment can stain your clothes and clog up filters. Running the cold water taps until the water runs clear is also the way to correct this issue. If you have filters on your faucets or showerheads, these can be cleaned.

There is a higher chance of more dislodged mineral sediment in lower-lying areas. The natural mineral sediment does not mean your water is contaminated. Unger said when there is a water main break, there is a lot of water leaving the pipe but probably very little material entering the pipe. Although it is possible there could be a small amount of dirt entering. “Relative to the whole system, a lot of dirt is not entering the system. For the most part, water is pushing everything out of the system. If the pipe burst is fixed very quickly, there is little chance for contamination,” explained the Public Services Director.

After a main burst, the POA is legally required to sanitize the pipes at the point of repair with a chlorine solution.

Public Services is Working to Identify and Fix Issues in the System

Unger said, “We have opportunities to avoid having so many homes experiencing water service outages after a line break.”

Sometimes, valves are broken, and we don’t know that until we go out and attempt to close a valve, and it doesn’t close. If you are trying to isolate an area and the valves on the main line don’t close, you end up with a much bigger outage. Faulty valves are on the list of things to fix. Unger said there are two valves: pressure-reducing and gate valves. Both types of valve malfunctions led to the size of the recent September water outages.

Unger said his department will methodically go through the system and test the valves. The number of valves in the system is unknown, but there are thousands. We have old drawings that don’t always match what was built. It is common practice for modifications of a project to be made in the field, and these modifications should be documented in the project plan. Still, complete documentation of changes in the field doesn’t always occur. Repairing or replacing malfunctioning valves will help reduce the size of water outages. Currently, Alena McCoy, Supervisor in the Public Services Department, is working to map the whole system accurately. Additionally, diverse water distribution routes are being installed.

“Part of what we will be doing with our water/sewer infrastructure dollars is providing better diversity in the water lines to some of the areas that have single-threaded water service lines. We solved two issues in the recent Carmona Road Waterline Replacement Project by adding a section of the water line to provide an additional route for water to be supplied to a whole area. We are working to avoid these large types of outages in the future. An additional line was added on Barcelona Road to provide a diverse route for water service. We will be looking at installing more diverse water supply lines, which will help improve the water system’s reliability. This is not line replacement, but the addition of lines to provide diverse paths for water to get into neighborhoods.” Doing this will improve the water supply reliability in case of a main break.

“I like to solve problems. I did that in my career and am trying to do it here. Not just fix problems, but fix what is causing the problems.”

Ken Unger, HSVPOA Public Services Director

Poor installation is also causing some of the problems in the water system.

Unger said that he is working towards reducing the number of outages. “I will do my best to put us in a position where we have as few water outages as possible. That is what I am trying to do,” emphasized Unger

“It is just like a doctor, you can treat the symptoms – you can treat the breaks. Or you can find out why that is happening and solve the underlying problem. That is what I am hunting for right now.”

Ken Unger, HSVPOA Public Services Director

Unger is Actively Working on a Plan

By law, water and sewer services are supposed to be self-sustaining, and all associated costs must be paid for with money collected through customers’ utility bills. Assessment money is not intended to be used for water and sewer costs. According to Act 605 of 2021, retail water providers have been given additional responsibilities in managing and operating their water systems and must be fiscally self-sufficient. (More to come soon on Act 605.)

While improving the water system is a large job, Unger is optimistic and feels it is obtainable. He is working on a detailed plan to tackle the issues over the coming years.

Boil Water Notices Policy – Arkansas Department of Health

By Cheryl Dowden

Contact Information for Public Services Director

Ken Unger
Director Public Services
Hot Springs Village
501-226-9609
Kunger@hsvpoa.org

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