Water Watch

Is the water off where you are, or is it just your house? A neighbour board for Fort Smith, plus the 24-hour utility line and what a boil-water notice actually means.

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Water Watch

Is the water off where you are, or is it just your house? A neighbour board for Fort Smith, plus the 24-hour utility line and what a boil-water notice actually means.

When the water goes off, or comes out brown, the first thing you want to know is whether it is just your house. Nobody publishes that in real time — Fort Smith has no live outage map, and a boil-water notice reaches you by phone call or the news, not by feed.

So this board is neighbours. If you are signed in, tap your part of town to say the water is off or wrong where you are. Reports fade out on their own after eight hours, so the board shows what is happening now rather than a history. When several people in one area report at the same time, it says so — that is the signal that it is the main and not your meter.

This is a neighbour signal, not an official one. Report a real problem to the Utility Department too — they are the only ones who can fix it, and the 24-hour line is 479-784-2342.

No water cuts reported right now.

Downtown & Belle Grove
No reports · Garrison Avenue, the riverfront, the Belle Grove historic district.
North Fort Smith
No reports · Kelley Highway, Midland Heights, North 50th.
Midtown
No reports · Free Ferry, Rogers Avenue, Grand Avenue.
East Fort Smith
No reports · Massard Road and east along Zero Street.
Chaffee Crossing
No reports · The old Fort Chaffee grounds and the newer building out there.
South Fort Smith
No reports · Fianna Hills, Jenny Lind Road, out toward Ben Geren.

How this works

These reports come from neighbours, not the water utility. Anyone can read the board; reporting no water takes a free account, which keeps it honest. A report clears itself after about 8 hours, so the board stays current on its own. When several people report the same sector, it’s likely the whole sector is dry — not just one tank.

The water utility — City of Fort Smith Utility Department

The 24-hour line for a leak, a main break, or no water at all. Customer service and billing is 479-784-2231, Mon–Fri. This is the only channel that gets a crew out — the board below does not reach anyone at the city.

Call 479-784-2342 Official page

Drinking water

A boil-water notice is issued by the Utility Department, usually after a main break or a pressure loss, and it reaches the people affected by phone and through 5News and the Times Record. It is not published as a live feed anywhere, which is part of why this board exists — but a neighbour's report is never a substitute for the notice itself. If you are told to boil, boil: a rolling boil for one minute, and let it cool before you use it for drinking, ice, brushing teeth or washing food. Brown or rusty water after a break or after hydrant flushing is usually sediment stirred up in the main; run a cold tap a few minutes and call the utility if it does not clear.