The Pearl River County courthouse was found to have a major water leak, which was temporarily patched Friday.

Since Tuesday, county officials have been searching for the leak after noticing the building’s water meter was showing larger than usual water usage. When they opened up a manhole, they could see fresh water running through the sewer, but weren’t sure where it was coming from, District I Supervisor Anthony Hales said.

During the week, the building’s water was shut off at certain intervals during the day to try to find where the leak was located, County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said.

Friday, they found the leak to be the result of the crossing of an old water line and a sewer pipe outside of the courthouse, which caused water from the old water line to rush into the sewer pipe at 80 gallons per minute, Lumpkin said.

While the leak didn’t cause any structural damage to the building, Hales said this issue doesn’t speak positively about the deteriorating nature of the building.

“Fortunately, the water escaping was going into the sewer line,” Hales said. “Could you imagine if the water would’ve gotten into the foundation of the building?”

The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors plans to find a permanent solution to the problem in the near future, Lumpkin said.