The Town of Hot Springs will begin a main water line repair at approximately 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. All town water customers should expect water service to go off, along with a loss of pressure before and after the shutdown.
We are not putting an estimated restoration time on this one, because we do not have an honest one to give. Main line repairs turn on what crews find once the line is opened. If the break is straightforward, service comes back sooner. If it is not, it takes longer. We would rather tell you that plainly than give you a time and miss it.
What to do before 8:00 a.m. Tuesday
Store water for drinking and cooking. A few gallons per person covers most of a day comfortably. Fill a bathtub, a cooler, or a couple of buckets for flushing toilets, since a toilet takes roughly a gallon and a half per flush. If you have laundry or dishes going, run them Monday evening.
If you run a restaurant, an inn, or any business that depends on water, plan for the day rather than the hour. Kitchens, coffee, and laundry all stop when the water does.
When the water comes back
Expect discolored water and air in the lines. That is normal after a shutdown. Run your cold taps until the water runs clear, then check your hot side. If you have an ice maker, dump the first batch.
A Boil Water Advisory will follow
Once the repair is complete, the town will issue a Boil Water Advisory as a precaution. This is standard practice any time a water main loses pressure, not a sign that anything is wrong with the water. Loss of pressure creates the possibility that contaminants entered the line, so the system has to be tested before we can say it is clear.
While a Boil Water Advisory is in effect, bring water to a rolling boil for at least one minute and let it cool before using it for drinking, cooking, making ice, or brushing teeth. Bottled water is also fine. The advisory stays in effect until the required water quality samples are collected and satisfactory laboratory results come back. That testing takes time, and no one can shorten it.
We will send a CodeRED alert when the advisory takes effect and another when it is lifted.
Check on your neighbors
If you know someone nearby who lives alone, has trouble carrying water, or may not have seen the alert, a knock on the door Monday evening is worth more than any notice we can send. The people most likely to be caught off guard by a water outage are usually the ones least able to work around it.
Not signed up for town alerts?
CodeRED is how the town reaches residents by text and email for things like this. You can sign up here.
Thank you for your patience while crews work.