CHICKASAW, Ala. (WKRG) — A busted water main in Chickasaw is causing many headaches for residents in the city. Residents say they have been without running water for more than 24 hours.

The issues with the city’s water and infrastructure has prompted Mayor Barry Boardhead of Chickasaw to consider cutting ties with the Prichard Water Works and Sewer Board.

Frustrated residents say they noticed they had no water since late Tuesday night due to the busted pipe. Many say they didn’t get a notice from Prichard Water Board to alert them of the issue.

Chickasaw resident, Dakota Buley, says she noticed she didn’t have any water when her boyfriend tried to turn the water on to take a shower, but no water came out of the faucet.

“The Prichard Water Board, they didn’t give us any notice at all,” said Buley. “They just started working. And we had no idea what was going on. And when we lost water, we had no way to prepare for that.”

“It aggravates me because you know, my kids can’t even take a proper shower to go to bed at night,” said Brandi Jordan, Chickasaw resident. “You know what I mean? They had to go to bed, you know, dirty from school all day. It’s ridiculous.”

“I figured something busted,” said Kathye Byrd, a Chickasaw resident. “My mouth is so dry. I was drinking tea. And you know, it just happened. And nobody said a word.”

Crews were out installing a new water pipe in the ground all afternoon on Hill Street in Chickasaw’s East Village Area. The repairs were all completed around 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 15.

Prichard Water Board tells us the cause of the busted pipe is from the pipe’s old age and old infrastructure. Because of these issues, Mayor Broadhead says he’s considered leaving the Prichard Water Board altogether.

“We saw what was coming ahead, and that there had been existing infrastructure issues of breakdowns and many repairs,” said Broadhead. “We felt that it was in the interest of the citizens of the city to bring the infrastructure into our utilities so that we could begin making the repairs and the upgrades that were needed in the long term.”

Broadhead says this is conversation he’s had with the Prichard Water Works and Sewer Board before. However, there’s been issue between the city and board.

“It seems to have been related to the way the assets were leveraged as a part of a bond issue or a warrant issue by the utility that the pipes and the tanks and the and the various infrastructure items that are here in Chickasaw were leveraged for for bond issues,” said Broadhead. “And it would be perhaps complex to to unravel that.”

John Johnson from the Prichard Water Board responded to Broadhead’s suggestion of leaving the water board. He says the mayor can leave at his own discretion. However, he would have to find his own water source, and it would take a lot of time to implement the plan.

Even though the water is back up and running, citizens just want to make sure a problem like this doesn’t happen again.

“Fix the problem,” said Brandi Jordan. “You know, permanently fix it!”

Chickasaw City School students will spend Thursday as an “e-Learning” day where they will conduct their classes at home. They are expected to return to the building on Friday.