Water main break closes Cook Children's child study center

FORT WORTH, Texas - A water main break in Fort Worth made a big mess of things, creating quite a bit of a mess as gushing water rushed through the streets and into nearby buildings.

The break impacted operations at the Cook Children's Medical Center Child Study Center.

The strong water gusher began when a 30-inch cast iron city line broke around 4:40 a.m. Thursday. 

"It’s a very large line, and it ties into other very large lines," said Mary Gugliuzza with the water department. "There were numerous valves that had to be operated in order to isolate the break and that took us a few hours."

The adjacent building is the Cook Children’s Medical Child Study Center, and the water main break has impacted the classrooms and offices of its school for children with developmental delays. 

"There is about 150 children that are here on a daily basis," said Natalie Wilkens with the center. "All children have been sent home for the day, and classes and the Jane Justin School will not happen tomorrow."

Roughly an inch of water accumulated inside the school’s west corridor. The hospital says classes are expected to resume Monday. 

Meantime, city officials point to the heat as a factor but not the direct cause of the break. 

The heat itself doesn’t cause a break. What the heat does and the dry conditions do, we see an increase in demand so we’re having to pump more water which means higher pressures going through these lines," Gugliuzza said.

Secondly, Gugliuzza points out the ground is so dry that the pipes constrict and shift, which can lead to more breaks than normal.

"We were averaging about two main breaks a day, but now we have been seeing about four main breaks a day in the last month," she said.