Mysterious water leak still flowing from auto parts store in Ocean Springs

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) – The Advanced Auto Part store in Ocean Springs is closed, but water from a mysterious spring is still flowing from the building a month after it was discovered.

The store's parking lot on Bienville Boulevard is filled with water. There are signs posted on the front door saying the store is closed. Inside the building you can see water gushing out of a small hole.

According to the city of Ocean Springs, Advanced Auto notified the water department of the leak around September 24th.

“Our water department went there and turned off the water for 24 hours to see if the water would subside, but it continued to flow,” said Councilman Rickey Authement.

Advanced Auto hired a plumber to check for leaks but found none, Authement explained.

So where does the water come from?

One theory is that it could be a spring that burst underground. Ocean Springs is named for the springs that run beneath the town. A historical marker for Marble Springs is located across Bienville Boulevard, across from Advanced Auto.

Authement is a professional home and building inspector and said he wasn't convinced a spring was responsible.

“Every now and then I come across a spring, even at my house, but it is insignificant. It just ensures that the soil stays moist at that point. But it’s not like the water flowing out of the concrete in the auto parts warehouse,” he said. “I'm not sure if it's a spring or a water pipe from the building that we don't know there's another faucet that feeds it.”

In the month since the leak was reported to the city, Authement said he has seen no progress in fixing the problem by Advanced Auto Parts.

“It seems like they are doing something other than just putting a sign on the ground,” he added. “They should at least make a public statement.”

WLOX News has reached out to Advanced Auto Parts' corporate headquarters for comment. Our calls were not answered.

Whether the water is coming from a pipe or a source, the city said it is Advanced Auto Parts' responsibility to fix the problem.

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