While city roads remained intact during this water break, which is abnormal, a small pond was formed at the site of the water main break Monday afternoon north of Sun City. Photo courtesy of VVWD.

While city roads remained intact during this water break, which is abnormal, a small pond was formed at the site of the water main break Monday afternoon north of Sun City. Photo courtesy of VVWD.

Improper installation of an original 16” pipe approximately 10 years ago is said to have been a factor of the pipe’s failure Monday just north of Sun City. Photo courtesy of VVWD.

Improper installation of an original 16” pipe approximately 10 years ago is said to have been a factor of the pipe’s failure Monday just north of Sun City. Photo courtesy of VVWD.

A faulty pipe broke and cracked due to several factors, none of which could be pinpointed as the sole culprit for a water outage to Sun City Monday afternoon, Oct. 17. Photo courtesy of VVWD.

A faulty pipe broke and cracked due to several factors, none of which could be pinpointed as the sole culprit for a water outage to Sun City Monday afternoon, Oct. 17. Photo courtesy of VVWD.

While the water main break Monday afternoon didn’t cause any city streets to crumble, it put a hamper on residents of Sun City who needed water. VVWD crews promptly responded to an area north of Sun City to make repairs and get water flowing again to their customers. Photo by Stephanie Clark.

While the water main break Monday afternoon didn’t cause any city streets to crumble, it put a hamper on residents of Sun City who needed water. VVWD crews promptly responded to an area north of Sun City to make repairs and get water flowing again to their customers. Photo by Stephanie Clark.

At around 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17 the Virgin Valley Water District (VVWD) began receiving a flood of phone calls from residents in Sun City who suddenly went without water.

According to VVWD Manager Kevin Brown, a vital 16” plastic water pipe that feeds water into Sun City broke due to a variety of factors including older pipe probably installed in 2005 or 2006 and left in the sun too long before installation.

Brown said the pipe brand was known to be faulty and it was installed on top of a rock without enough sand base to protect it. Installers may have over-inserted it into a connecting pipe causing additional problems.

“This was the second, and hopefully last, major pipe break in two years for Sun City,” said Brown.

Partial water pressure was restored to residents in Sun City within an hour of losing the water and full repairs were completed around 9 p.m. Monday night.

“The VVWD staff did another great job of quickly restoring water to residents,” Brown said of their response time.