Business Owners Say Repeated Water Breaks Are Hurting Their Bottom Line

SAN ANGELO, TX — Repeated water main breaks along Sherwood Way have left multiple San Angelo businesses struggling to stay afloat, with some losing most of their revenue over the past week.

Owners say the situation has persisted for years, and they’re calling on the City of San Angelo to permanently fix the problem.

Jesse Sanchez, owner of The Pit BBQ at 2330 Sherwood Way, said water line breaks have occurred at least 10 times since last Monday, flooding his parking lot, cutting off water service, and driving away customers.

“I can’t have ice. My tea dispensers don’t work. The soda machine’s out. My bathrooms are closed,” Sanchez said. “My parking lot ends up turning into mud, and I’ve got a very small opening right now for customers.”

Just next door, Kevin with The Turtle Hole Car Wash at 2322 Sherwood Way, said the same break shut down their operation for parts of five days.

“Our pressure was fine for years, but after they repaired one break, the pressure spiked. I warned them it was too high—and then it broke eight more times,” Kevin said.

He said water disruptions between Wednesday and Sunday cut the car wash’s business down to less than 25% of normal. 

“It was a mess,” Kevin said. “We couldn’t run anything. No water means no car wash.”

At The Pit BBQ, a hand-written sign taped to the soda machine reads, “Out of order – 12th time water lines broken this week – Sorry :(.”

Sanchez said the repeated shutdowns have slashed his revenue by as much as 50%.

“We can’t serve drinks, we can’t wash dishes, and customers don’t want to walk through mud or park around city trucks,” he said, mentioning that a woman had fallen into a hole near his parking lot. 

Despite the frustration, both owners praised the City crews on the ground.

“Those guys out there are great,” Sanchez said. “They’re not the issue. The problem is that no one higher up is making the decision to replace this line permanently.”

John Kaufman, Director of Water Utilities for the City of San Angelo, confirmed the pipe beneath Sherwood is a cast-iron main riddled with corrosion that may have been installed "60 to 80 years ago."

He said the situation is similar to the weak link in a chain.

"One weak link breaks it, and we fix it, and then we apply stress to the water system again, and the next weak link breaks. It’s like we’re playing whack-a-mole out there," Kaufman said.

"It’s very frustrating to our field crew trying to fix those things, because it’s break after break. I think there’s a half dozen holes out there."

Kaufman said he feels for the businesses affected, and finding a solution is a high priority for the City, which is developing an engineering plan to replace the line.

“We’re working on a design right now. I anticipate it can be done later this year,” he said.

Once complete, Kaufman said the switchover to the new line would ideally be scheduled for the evening, limiting water shutoffs to about an hour for businesses.

Until then, the City will continue to try and keep patching the line together.

"All we can do at the moment is try and maintain it the best we can and cross our fingers we don’t have another break until then," Kaufman said.