Pipe bursts inside water plant, prompting emergency conservation order

The basement of New Rockford’s municipal water plant was full of water at 2:45 am on Tuesday, when water plant manager Rick Swenson came on the scene due to an alarm.

He carefully climbed a flight of stairs to assess the situation, then shut off a valve inside the plant. With water continuing to pour out, he turned off a shut-off valve outside the plant, under the sidewalk.

When even that wasn’t e...