‘This Is A Major Leak’: Bethany Faces Water Shortage After Pipe Collapse

A major waterline collapsed in Bethany, leaving residents with little to no water pressure.

The 12-inch pipe collapsed underneath Northwest 23rd Street and North Council Road intersection.

The city is now asking that customers conserve water and avoid the intersection until the leak is fixed.

“This is a major, major leak within the City of Bethany,” City Manager Elizabeth Gray said.

The loss of thousands of gallons was noticed due to a drop in pressure in the water towers Sunday.

Gray said it wasn’t an easy leak to find. “We didn’t know where in town that this was happening,” she said. “The first method of investigation was to gather some testers.”

Those testers identify chlorine. The city began checking every storm sewer outflow in order to locate treated water.

“We chased the chlorine trail all the way up to this point from about two blocks away,” Gray said. “We walked for about a mile underneath the ground to find this particular leak.”

The city is assessing the cause of the collapse, but Gray suspects the recent rainfall may have contributed. It also made the search for the leak difficult.

“There was so much water coming through the pipes it was hard to distinguish what was rainwater and what was leak,” Gray said.

On Monday, crews brought in a replacement pipe, but there was no timeline for when the fix would be complete.

In the meantime, Bethany is buying water from Oklahoma City to supplement the supply.