Over the Labor Day holiday, the City of Rawlins’ in-town water infrastructure experienced six breaks due to aging infrastructure and a slightly elevated pressure event. Despite undergoing regular maintenance, a pressure-reducing valve failed. Although pressure remained within normal limits, due to our aging infrastructure, breaks occurred at weak points.
Due to the large number of breaks occurring simultaneously, staff from multiple divisions helped respond to repair the breaks as quickly as possible. The Utility Division (who regularly repairs water breaks) was joined by staff from the Water Treatment and Administration Divisions of Public Works, staff from the Administration Division of Community Development, and staff from the Parks Division of Parks & Recreation. As always, our staff remained on-site as long as allowed to fix the breaks and to restore water.
Thank you to all the City staff who worked to restore water to residents. Many worked for over three days straight, only took breaks as required, and often worked until 1 am or later and returned first thing in the morning. Thank you also to the affected residents for their patience, especially those who stopped by to thank and support the crews in their long hours of work.
Here is the list of locations, including break types and timelines. These are all in areas that have weaknesses due to the age of the system.
Saturday:
- Water Break on Front Street between 7th and 9th Streets; this was a line split that required the replacement of 6 feet of water line; also found and replaced 6 feet of sewer line; the crew worked from 3 pm Saturday until 6:30 am Sunday
Sunday:
- Crews worked on these five breaks from 8:30 am Sunday to 1:00 am Monday; repaired both Edinburgh and Murray by 1:00 am Monday
- Water Break on Edinburgh just north of Inverness; this was a hole repaired with a permanent repair clamp; two separate times as the water was restored, another hole blew; repaired with a total of three permanent repair clamps
- Water Break on Murray near Sigma; this was a hole repaired with a permanent repair clamp; as the water was restored, one more hole blew; repaired with a total of two permanent repair clamps
- Water Break between Bomgaars and Econolodge; this was a lateral pipe break around 10 feet long; replaced 35 feet total;
- Water Break on Inverness near Dundee, hole in the line, repaired with a permanent repair clamp;
- Water Break on Harshman north of Murray; 12” line with 8-foot lateral break, replaced approximately 10 feet of pipe
Monday:
- Crews worked from 9 am Monday to 3 am Tuesday to finish work on the Inverness, Murray, and Bomgaars breaks; crews worked from 9 am Monday to 3 am Tuesday
Tuesday:
- Second Water Break on Harshman north of Murray; repaired by early afternoon. Crews also worked on backfilling.
A water break has the following steps: obtain 811 locates from other utilities such as gas and electric, excavate, identify the specific break location and type, repair the break, restore water service and monitor for additional breaks, and backfill. Depending on size and type, this takes an average of 3 – 5 staff between 8 and 20 hours. Currently, our Utility Division has four of the nine funded positions filled. If you are interested in applying for this job, with a starting wage of $18.41 an hour with increases for qualifications plus outstanding benefits, please visit www.rawlinswy.gov/jobs.
In 2022 and 2024, water rates were increased to help fund infrastructure, equipment, and the staff necessary for a functioning water system. You can find extensive information on these water rate increases and the full financial studies that led to them at www.rawlinswy.gov/feestudy. These increases have allowed the City to budget more funds than in the past for repairing both out-of-town and in-town water infrastructure. The City is also exploring funding options for infrastructure repairs, including significant grants and loans from multiple sources. However, with needs amounting to $60 million in water repairs, we cannot make them overnight.
Lastly, all staff members who typically post updates on water breaks could not post due to travel. The City will train more backup staff to keep the essential updates posted on our website and Facebook. These are typically posted between 7 am and 8 pm and contain the location of the break and area affected, followed by an update when the repair is completed. The City occasionally also posts information about break type or repair progress, but this is not usually feasible as the crews focus on making the repairs and do not send updates at each step. Residents can call the Finance Utilities Clerk at 307-324-4501 or Public Works at 307-328-4599 during regular work hours to confirm the location of water breaks. After hours, residents can call the RPD Dispatch line at 307-328-4530.
For more information, please contact Mira Miller, City of Rawlins Community Relations/PIO at 307-328-4500 ext. 1022. Interested in receiving news from the City? Sign up for news via email or text at www.rawlinswy.gov/notifyme under “City of Rawlins News.”
*Image of line removed at the break between Bomgaars and Econolodge
