A 16-inch water main broke on Avenue I between 13th & 14th Street on Monday afternoon sending what some neighbors described as “a river” of water flowing down a nearby alley and street.

The city of Brownwood said Tuesday that the break caused an estimated water loss of 2 million gallons as the break lost water from 4:30 pm until 2:30 am Tuesday morning.

City officials described the water main in that area as “original” and estimate that it was installed in the early 1930’s.

A neighbor near the break said that  it caused large chunks of asphalt to fly into the air landing about 4 feet from the hole.

Although the amount of water that was lost was significant, city officials say that they had no reports of homes being flooded.

By coincidence, Brownwood city council members discussed today the continuing replacement of many old underground water pipes in various locations around Brownwood.  $194,904 is allocated to this project with Big Country Waterworks being awarded the bid for the work.

Photos Courtesy Rowonna McNeely