SHEFFIELD — A 38-inch sewer line sprung a leak into the Tennessee River earlier this week, spilling waste into the water, Mayor Ian Sanford said.

Sanford said the leak wasn’t major and was repaired in a timely manner.

Civil Department Manager Tommy Barnes said the 1,700-foot line was backed up with wastewater when a fisherman called to report a hole he had sighted while he was fishing between Riverfront Park and Spring Creek.

“The hole was at the top of the pipe, which is hardly ever full,” Barnes said. “We estimated that it leaked a very small amount of sewage — 1,000 gallons or less. It could’ve been more if it hadn’t been caught by the fisherman.”

The leak was repaired within a day of being detected, which cost the city nearly $3,000, including labor and materials, he said.

“What’s come of this is a complete survey of that line to make sure we don’t have any more problems,” Barnes said. “I think we’ve had maybe two problems with that line in the last five to 10 years, and they’ve generally been because of corrosion or a tree.”

Barnes said the leaked sewage was too little to be of any threat to the public.

“Basically this was just a situation where a small part of the pipe had flaked off,” he said. “Our job is to go back and survey to make sure we don’t have a bigger or unseen problem. We’re always here if anybody ever finds anything.”

Barnes said he’s grateful to the fisherman, who alerted the proper people to put a stop to what could have ended up being an ongoing and larger-scaled problem.

Hannah Mask can be reached at 256-740-5728 or hannah.mask@TimesDaily.com.