Board of Water Supply officials believe that a strong word-of-mouth message to conserve water in Nanakuli and Lualualei helped avert a shortage Wednesday night.

"As far as we know, nobody ran out of water," said Su Shin, the board's spokesperson. "The situation turned out to be so good. We really want to thank the community."

Shin tried to alert more than 13,600 residents of the potential waterless night after a water main broke Wednesday morning on Farrington Highway near the Ali'inui Drive on-ramp in the town-bound direction.

A roadside sign was placed on the Leeward-bound side of the highway in the afternoon, asking drivers returning home from work to conserve. Crews also pumped reservoir water from Wai'anae toward the shortfall areas. With help from the word-of-mouth messages among the communities, Shin said, the expected water shortage never materialized.

"(My family) had water last night," said Nanakuli resident Dennis Sakamoto. "I took a shower and everything — no problem."

The broken main also led to the closure of one lane of highway, but it reopened at 6 a.m. yesterday in time for rush-hour traffic.

Shin said stretches of the highway have been a target of water-main repairs for the past few years. Work to replace a stretch from Ali'inui Drive to Honokai Hale began July 5.