Aqua Indiana fixed a faulty valve Thursday linking the private system with Fort Wayne City Utilities and started drawing city water around 2 p.m. to help with record-high demand in Aboite Township, the company said.
The valve hindered Aqua Indiana's efforts to start drawing water from Fort Wayne's public water utility Wednesday amid high usage and reports of low water pressure from some users, the company said Thursday.
With some of the utility's customers in Aboite Township reporting lingering issues after a water main broke over the weekend, Aqua planned to start drawing extra water Wednesday from Fort Wayne City Utilities. But repairs pushed the connection back a day, the company said in a written statement.
Aqua Vice President Bill Etzler said the connection went smoothly Thursday after workers fixed the valve, allowing the utility to get up to 500,000 gallons of water a day until further notice.
Aqua would pay about $8,000 a month for the water, City Utilities spokeswoman Mary Jane Slaton said. But Etzler said the expense would not translate to higher bills for Aqua customers.
Etzler said Aqua would re-evaluate the situation after about a week to see how long they would need to draw city water. However, Slaton said City Utilities would rather set up at least a two-month plan than go week-by-week.
Aqua had planned to make the connection at 9 p.m. Wednesday but found that the valve, which had not been used in years, was inoperable, the statement said.
The connection to city water would help supply about 1,400 Aqua customers north of Indiana 14 between Hadley and Scott roads, the company said.
