Exactly a week after a ruptured water main flooded Chattanooga's Southside district, workers are finishing up final repairs to the pipe and hope to start letting water through it tonight.

The 24-inch main, which runs from the Tennessee American Water treatment plant off Amnicola Highway to Rossville, has been joined together, surrounded with a concrete encasement and buried under layers of dirt and gravel, water company spokeswoman Kim Dalton said.

The flooded, empty field that business owners were calling "Lake Cowart" is now just a field again, and markings for a replacement sidewalk are in place.

"Repairs over the weekend went much better than anticipated," Dalton said.

Workers redoubled their efforts in anticipation of Tuesday's storms, Dalton said.

"Customers shouldn't see a difference in their water," Dalton said. "If it is discolored, they should let it run until it clears up before using it."

All customers who have experienced low water pressure over the last week should see it go back up by Thursday morning, Dalton said.

The main sustained a 4-foot gash Wednesday when subcontractors with AT&T were drilling along Cowart Street to lay fiber optic cable.