High-pressure pipeline repaired over weekend

On Friday evening, January 9th, 2026, the high-pressure pipeline connecting the Rawlins Water Treatment plant to the Hospital and Painted Hills water tanks suffered a break due to it's fragile condition. This line, critical to supplying water to a significant portion of Rawlins homes and businesses, underwent immediate repairs by city crews from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.

What does the transmission line do?

This pipeline carries treated water from the treatment plant to both high-pressure water tanks, one above the El Rancho/Hospital neighborhood (Hospital Tank) and one above the Happy Hollow/Scarlet Drive neighborhood (Painted Hills Tank). The line and high-pressure tanks provide water to approximately half of the homes and businesses in Rawlins. There are also treated water tanks, known as the tank farm, located near the treatment plant south of town.

What happened and how was it repaired?

Thanks to a new monitoring and control system installed last year, Water Department staff quickly identified abnormal water loss. Crews located the break on Saturday and worked continuously for 20 hours to replace about 60 feet of twenty-inch line. Public Works staff - assisted by Parks and Community Relations - worked from Friday night through Sunday morning to restore service while keeping the community informed throughout.

Because residents in the affected area conserved water, the City was able to minimize system loss until repairs were completed.

The break was immediately adjacent to the break on this line in May 2024. Due to the fragility of the pipe, it was decided to replace a large portion of the line instead of clamping only the break location and risking further blow-outs on the line when water service was restored.

What are our plans for long-term solutions?

The high-pressure pipeline has been identified as a priority repair for many years due to its fragile condition. This project is on the list as Priority 1, with ideal completion within the next five years. However, before this line can be repaired, there must be an alternate way to provide water to the tanks while the repair is made. The City, in conjunction with local engineers, is currently assessing the best way to to create an alternate water source for the tanks and the most effective way to repair the high-pressure line.

Thanks to our community!

Notifications went out via text and email, and information posted on both the City's webpage and Facebook page asked residents to reduce water usage during the break. Water use was less than an average winter Saturday. Thank you to everyone who took short showers, postponed laundry, or otherwise conserved.

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