SHARYLAND – Relief is in route for people who live near a Mission junior high school. 

A busted waterline at B.L. Gray Junior High School continues spewing onto the streets.

This issue was first brought to CHANNEL 5 NEWS by a viewer. At the site, water gushed out for hours near the campus. We’re told it’s been this way for several days.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke to Mission Public Works Department and a Sharyland Independent School District spokesperson.

The city of Mission says the repairs are up to the school district. They tell us all the piping past the water meter is considered private property. It includes the part that’s leaking on campus above ground.

The piece being affected is a backflow preventer, a device that protects potable water from contamination due to backflow.

The school district assures us the broken part is not affecting the safety of the water.

We’re told the water running through the pipes isn’t part of fire protection; that’s on another line. Since potable water, including drinking water, runs through the pipes, turning off the line isn’t an option.

The school district says the leak started more than a week ago. They added it took a while to order the broken part because the system was built more than 10 years ago, so a custom part had to be ordered.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS visited the junior high school again Wednesday afternoon. By then, a Sharyland ISD maintenance crew was working on the pipe.

The school district says they expect the leak to be fixed by this weekend.