Big decline reported with Fort Smith water leak numbers

The city of Fort Smith has made significant progress in reducing “active” known water leaks, with the number of such leaks down almost 50% between December 2024 and the end of October.

City officials began to more aggressively tackle the leak issue during and after 2022 when the number of leaks totaled 2,575, which was 43.4% more than in 2021. The city reported 1,135 confirmed leaks in January 2024, with that number falling to 739 in December 2024.

Following are numbers provided by the city about water leaks at the end of October:

• Leaks repaired in October: 222
• Leaks repaired January-October: 1,540
• New leaks reported: 268
• Leaks confirmed as a city issue: 170
• Active leaks at the end of October: 394

The number of active leaks at the end of October is down 37% compared with 625 at the end of September and is down 47% compared with the end of 2024. Helping to reduce the number is an audit of the repair program, which found 179 leaks that had been repaired but not removed from the leak list.

“We’ve also increased output (222 leaks repaired in October) by establishing equipment sharing protocols between the Streets and Utilities divisions,” Matt Meeker, director of Public Works, noted in a response to questions from Talk Business & Politics. “It is now a priority to have sufficient equipment/vehicles on hand to keep five water repair crews continuously in the field. Additionally, we’ve adjusted staff assignments as necessary to maintain five repair crews. We also have an on-call crew and a volunteer crew working on repairs every weekend.”

Meeker also said the newly formed department now has a policy that leak crews begin their day at the job site, and to not return to the operations yard for lunch. Meeker said those and other actions have resulted in more time spent working on leaks and other infrastructure issues. Meeker also is asking more from work supervisors.

“Supervisors are also required to provide me, specifically, with weekly reports on the work output for each leak crew so I can evaluate their performance,” Meeker said. “I expect at least 50 leaks to be repaired each week, unless there are extenuating circumstances that prevent this from happening.”

Not all leaks reported to the city are on city infrastructure. Leaks from the water meter to the residence or the business are the responsibility of the home or business owner.

The city urges residents to report leaks by texting “water leak” to 479-777-8311, or by calling the public works department at 479-784-2360.