Although Kingfisher Public Schools’ new construction plans don’t include water features, the city inadvertently provided a couple of them for a brief time Thursday.

City employees struck a 12-inch water main shortly after 10:30 a.m. while installing an electric pole in front of Kingfisher High School in preparation for the ongoing building project.

Water gushed from the ruptured main, creating temporary ponds on school property on both sides of South 13 ^th Street and requiring numerous valves to be shut off to allow repairs to be made.

The result was that most of the city’s water customers had low or no water pressure until the line was repaired about 3 p.m.

No running water meant an unexpected 11:30 a.m. dismissal at all four Kingfisher campuses. The Kingfisher County Courthouse also closed at 1 p.m. and some businesses were disrupted.

City Manager Dave Slezickey said the electric crew installing the utility pole was aware of the line, which had been marked by the city water department, but he noted “location markings are a general area and not 100% precise. We nicked the side of it, but nicks on 12-inch lines aren’t good.”

Slezickey said the water line is buried at a slightly upward elevation as it gets closer to Will Rogers Drive and and was buried at a shallower depth in front of the high school than workers anticipated when they started digging.

Water department employees, with the assistance of the electric department and members of the fire department, cut away the damaged section of pipe and replaced it with a new section.

By mid to late afternoon, water was restored to all customers and students returned to school on Friday.

Slezickey apologized for the inconvenience, but commended city employees for their efforts to complete the repair as quickly as possible.