Brilliant works to repair water system leaks

BRILLIANT — The Town of Brilliant worked to repair a few leaks in its water system last week beginning on Thursday, July 9.
According to Brilliant Mayor Perry Franks, Brilliant had previously received grant money through ADEM to make improvements to the town’s water infrastructure, which included a planned project to replace a pump in the town’s well.
Franks said while crews were pulling the old plug out, a 6-inch water main suddenly burst and started draining tanks.
“That wasn’t planned,” Franks said.
Franks said there wasn’t any initial water quality concerns, but the town went ahead and issued a 24-hour boil water advisory as a precaution.
The 6-inch water line was fixed on July 10, and Franks said the goal was to get everything back to normal by Saturday. Residents were asked to ease back on water usage to allow tanks to re-fill.
The new pump was installed, and tanks began to fill back up on Saturday, but the Town of Brilliant reported on its Facebook page some of the tanks were not refilling, or were only slowly refilling, leading to a search for additional potential leaks.
Another 6-inch water main leak was found, but the Town of Brilliant reported on  July 12 the leak had been found and repaired, and the water levels in the tanks were rising once again.
The boil water advisory was still in effect as of this week’s press deadline of July 13, while water samples were being tested.
“I’d just like to say sorry to everybody for any inconvenience that’s been caused,” Franks said. “Pulling the old pump out of the well was planned, but the water line busting wasn’t. It was something we just couldn’t help.”