Water flowing in Ferris after pipe capped

FERRIS – Last week when the water in Ferris ran dry it turned out it wasn’t criminal activity at all.

What city officials originally thought was a felony relating to a fire hydrant which had been turned on ended up being a water leak at McDonald Elementary School on FM983.

Ferris Acting Mayor Tommy Scott said, “It was trial and error. You have many different water lines and cutoffs and valves and people that are not involved in city water works do not have a clue on how hard it is to start looking for a leak.”

Scott commended the Ferris Public Works Department for their quick job in getting the situation under control.

“It started off with a fire hydrant,” Scott said.

“Then you must ask the question did someone open that – did someone leave it open?

“Everyone’s assumption was that someone opened it because it was found with the caps off.”

In the end, it was a bad leak involving the school’s fire sprinklers.

A pressure valve had ruptured, and public works found the leak, capping it off immediately.

At that point, Scott said the water in the tanks filled up in a matter of 45 minutes.

“I want to thank the men at public works because they put out a big effort.”

Scott concluded. “It is not easy to find what has gone wrong and then fix it right away.”

City officials also met with the county judge last week to discuss further prevention of water issues and possible criminal activity regarding future water problems in the city.

Scott was optimistic in the fact new Ferris City Manager Brooks Williams started his position this week.

Williams will have the chance to consider the past water issues in Ferris and suggest ways to improve the system, so water leaks and shortages do not occur in the future.