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The North Hopkins WSC is located on Highway 19 just south of the FM 71 intersection.
The last boil water advisory in Hopkins County was lifted Thursday as North Hopkins Water Supply Corporation announced the end of their advisory that had been in place for almost a week.
Water had been on and off for North Hopkins Water Supply Corporation’s customers as the city of Sulphur Springs cut off its supply last Friday night, restoring it Saturday morning, cutting it off again Sunday night and then restoring it Monday morning again.
The back-and-forth nature was caused by city measures taken to avoid high usage as water leaked from an undiscovered main break. Customers were given short notice Saturday night as the city, through city manager Marc Maxwell, notified through social media channels about 10 minutes before the water was to be shut off. It was restored at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, and the city warned they would “turn them back off if they don’t find the leak.”
At around 8 p.m. Sunday, the city once again notified through social media that they would cut off their supply to the NHWSC starting 9 p.m. Sunday with restoration for only two hours a day “until such time as North Hopkins produces a plausible plan for locating the leak(s).”
Then again at 10 a.m. Monday, the city turned back on the water, noting “they can’t find leaks if the water is not on.”
In the same Monday announcement, a reward of one million gallons of water for locating a main break was set along with a reward of 100,000 gallons of water for people locating a leak on a service lateral to a vacant building or home. The city would back up the reward through NHWSC.
“Management and board members of North Hopkins Water Supply Corporation want to let their customers know that we are working around the clock to try to find any problem or leak on our system,” a Monday statement from the NHWSC said. “The Sheriff ’s Department and our Volunteer Fire Departments are also helping us look for leaks.”
Three main line leaks were found, and several yard line ruptures were repaired as well. According to Maxwell on Tuesday, NHWSC was still using more than double the water they do usually. However, he noted, NHWSC had been outputting four times as much water a few days before. NHWSC is now using its usual rate of 295,000 gallons per day.
"We do not have information yet on how many of those leaks/ruptures were the result of the reward program offered by NHWSC, but the City stands by its commitment to backstop the district with the free water to make good on the rewards," Maxwell said in a statement.
The service disruptions caused the Monday closure of two county schools: North Hopkins and Sulphur Bluff ISDs. Both schools were returned to operations Tuesday.
Water cases were given to NHWSC customers at the Joe Bob’s gas station during the boil water advisory.