LURAY, Va. — Recent water system woes prompted town officials to issue a water conservation request, but that request has now been lifted.
On January 27, 2025, the town released the following statement:
The Town is asking all utility users connected to the water system to reduce water use temporarily and voluntarily by employing any and all conservation measures possible. Such measures include, but are not limited to:
I) limiting the number and duration of showers, 2) not washing vehicles, 3) limiting and consolidating loads of laundry and dishes, 4) not allowing faucets to run, 5) fixing leaky faucets or toilets.
The Town is searching for a significant water loss in our system distribution piping, likely due to broken water lines caused by the recent severe cold temperatures. Frozen ground, snow cover, and now melting snow and ice make it exceedingly difficult for us to pinpoint the problem. We are currently testing and evaluating our town-wide water distribution systems and networks for both volume and pressure indicators. Various contractors will be working around town.
Currently, this notice is a POTENTIAL LOW WATER SUPPLY WARNING
Given our current operations, we are working to re-build potable water volumes in our storage tanks and reservoir while also keeping system users supplied with adequate volume and pressure. Our system recovers somewhat overnight when user water demand is at its lowest level. If we can achieve more water conservation during the day, we believe that we can more readily resolve the issues. Other measures may be required if voluntary conservation does not work.
Please do your part and reduce your water use as much as possible each day until we can find and resolve the problem(s). Your assistance is crucial to our success. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this critical matter for our community!
By February 3, the town announced that they were transitioning from voluntary water conservation back to regular use.
According to Luray Town Manager Bryan Chrisman, several leaks were identified and repaired.
”The cause was several very cold days — and especially nights — in a row. Sudden changes in temperature often cause water lines to crack or break,” said Chrisman in an emailed statement.
The leaks occurred in several locations throughout town, including residential neighborhoods, commercial and industrial areas.
“We were pumping an extra 200,000 gallons per day into our distribution system,” said Chrisman.
During the troubleshooting stage, the town received assistance from Maryland leak-detection experts Water Loss Systems, Inc. and technical support staff from the Virginia Rural Water Association. Luray Town Public Works staff handled repairs.
“So far, we found and fixed five large leaks on 4” water lines as well as several smaller line leaks and fitting repairs,” said Chrisman.
As to why the water leak concerns prompted a conservation request and not a mandatory water restriction, he explained that there was never a reduction in available water resources. The town had plenty of filtered and disinfected water available, but the leaks presented challenges to fully filling and maintaining water reserves — the reservoir and tanks.
According to Chrisman, requiring or forcing water reductions by meter service cut-offs is a step typically only considered during a serious case of source water loss or significant system degradation.
“Voluntary conservation aims at achieving water usage reductions by the consumers willingly engaging in conservation measures, and the target is typically 10%,” said Chrisman. “Many residents and businesses made sacrifices — and for that, we thank them.”