As parts of the state are still reeling from shortages of safe drinking water, those in Pulaski County can breathe a sigh of relief that they avoided the worst.
Central Arkansas Water, which provides drinking water for about 500,000 Arkansans, told customers Tuesday they no longer need to conserve water.
This comes after the water utility issued a conservation notice to customers Friday, as broken pipes caused by recent winter weather strained the utility's ability to provide water to their customers.
"I mean, the bottom line is that anytime that we have weather like what we had last week where the temperatures are going to hover well below freezing for several days in a row especially, you're going to have the potential for these types of breaks," said Douglas Shackelford, a spokesman for Central Arkansas Water.
Meanwhile, water utilities in other parts of the state are still restoring normal service to Arkansans without water or under boil orders as a result of the recent weather.
Central Arkansas Water's request to consumers to conserve water came after last week's freezing temperatures damaged pipes across the state, leading to a "heavy burden" on the utilities to treat water and keep up with demand.
Frozen pipes from last week's record cold temperatures and snow began to thaw causing some to break. Central Arkansas Water said dozens of its pipes were damaged, but that number does not include potentially "hundreds" of other pipes that broke on residential properties.
Some of the worst breaks were at commercial properties in Little Rock, particularly older ones, where property owners, stuck at home from the snow, couldn't check their buildings for leaks during the storms, Shackelford said.
"The chunk of ice inside a pipe is not necessarily what breaks the pipe, it's the pressure that can build behind that chunk of ice," Shackelford. "And so, a lot of times that pressure will find a weak spot in a pipe when it's so cold and I think that's what we were seeing."
When it issued its conservation request on Friday, Central Arkansas Water was producing water at a rate of 121 million gallons a day, more than double the approximately 50 million gallons of water a day it normally produces during winter months, according to Shackelford.
In Contrast to Pulaski County, notices for residents to boil their drinking water continued Tuesday in parts of Arkansas as utilities worked to repair damage from last week's winter weather.
In Saline County, many residents are still without safe drinking water because of broken pipes and low water pressure, although the situation is improving, according to County Judge Jeff Arey.
"The latest reports from the City of Benton, City of Haskell and Southwest Water Users Association is that while the systems are not at full capacity things are continuing to improve," Arey said in a statement. "We need to continue water conservation through Sunday in order to give the systems the opportunity to reach full capacity."
As the situation improves in Saline County, the Arkansas National Guard pulled their personnel out of Benton on Tuesday. With much of Saline county under a boil order, the Arkansas National Guard sent in four guardsmen and tankers of water to supply residents with safe drinking water.
Benton Mayor Tom Farmer said water donations from Everett car dealerships and Walmart along with conservation from residents helped alleviate some of the issues Tuesday.
"The community as a whole are doing everything they can to help with the situation by conserving water," Farmer said.
Saline County isn't alone as other water utilities around the state including ones in Washington County and Hot Spring County have issued boil notices to residents.
On Tuesday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson met with city officials in Pine Bluff to discuss the city's ongoing water crisis where many residents have been dealing with low water pressure for days.
In response to the water issue in Pine Bluff, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge opened an investigation into Liberty Utilities saying the company's actions "resulted in a catastrophic failure to protect its customers in Pine Bluff."