City water mains workers attempting to repair a water leak on Cherry Street Wednesday were taken aback when a geyser of water erupted from the broken 6-inch line, shooting a column of water about 25 feet in the air.

Workers said the geyser blew as soon as they removed the asphalt paving on the street that covered the 100-year-old line. The incident occurred about 9 a.m. Wednesday.

City Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said damage to the aging, cast iron pipe occurred after city crews working on a valve at the intersection of Drummond Street and Bowmar Avenue restored water service after stopping for the day.

“When the water came back on, it came on under a lot of pressure and the pipe split,” he said. “It may have been fatigued; it’s hard to say what caused it to break.”

Van Norman said the problem was repaired Wednesday afternoon.

The line began leaking Tuesday afternoon about 3:45 p.m., Cherry Street resident Jack Burrell said. Burrell’s property is just east of the leak.

“My neighbor was coming home from work and called me up and told me I had a river in front of my house,” he said. “I looked outside, and I could see the water running in the street.”

Burrell said he walked to Drummond and Bowmar and reported the leak to the crew working on the valve. He said a city crew was on his street to fix it early Wednesday morning.

The line is the second aging water line to break in the Drummond Street area in a month.

On Feb. 21, a 100-year-old, 6-inch waterline broke at the corner of Bowmar and Letitia streets in the same area where contractors in 2013 replaced an 8-inch sewer line.

The break forced the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to declare an emergency and hire a contractor to repair the problem because the line was about 10 feet deep in the ground. City workers are unable to work below nine feet because the city does not have the proper equipment.

The problem on Bowmar also included repairing the broken valve at the intersection of Drummond and Bowmar. Van Norman said problems with the aging valve have delayed the completion of repairs.