White Oak wrangles midweek water woes with rapid repairs

A ruptured water main caused a bit of a after-school headache last week for White Oak ISD staffers and some parents – with repairs completed in the wee hours of the morning, however, it did not delay classes the next day.
According to WOISD Supt. Jack Parker, the line broke, apparently spontaneously, late Wednesday afternoon January 29, forcing traffic diversion away from the affected area.
“We just saw it gushing out of the asphalt and running down the hill to where the band practices, so we knew we had a problem at that point,” he recounted. As for the cause, “You know, 100 percent I couldn’t tell you other than the pipe is probably as old as the last construction they had on the middle school – it already had a sleeve on it so it was already compromised.”
District personnel leapt into action, receiving welcome help from community members.
“5S Rental met us up there twice to rent us two pieces of equipment after-hours. They were fantastic working with us,” Parker added. “They’re White Oak people, and they’re great,” along with Brandon Sigmon.
“We called him at midnight to get some parts to fix it,” and the Sig’s Construction owner made it happen.
Parker’s grateful for the rapid response of everyone involved – the break knocked out water to about three-quarters of White Oak ISD.
“We didn’t know the diameter of the pipe until we dug down eight feet to find it,” he said. “My maintenance crew, along with myself, worked through the night, and we finally got it patched at 3:45 a.m. We were able to have school Thursday,” after about an hour’s shuteye.