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To say that the town of Clarence, Missouri is dry is an understatement.

There was a water main break Tuesday morning, but it was a big enough problem to shut the water off for the whole town.

Someone noticed a water leak in this road and thought the problem was the Public Rural Water District's.

After it started digging into the ground, it noticed the pipe actually belonged to the city.

So then city crews were brought in to fix the problem.

Crews first had to get to the problem, then pump out the water before the leak could be fixed.

That job took a good part of the day.

"The ground just freezing and thawing and shifting. The caps moved back where it started leaking. As we dug dirt away from it and the water eroded the dirt away, it really went to leaking. We had to shut the water off," says City Superintendent Dennie Carothers.

And that meant not a drop of water could be used by any residents or businesses all day.

Employees at Kemp's Restaurant in Clarence took a break after their hectic lunch hour.

"We had no water," says owner Barbara Kemp.

Luckly, the ladies already had some tea and coffee made, but owner Barbara Kemp had to run to the store to get this bottled water to make it through the lunch hour. Kemp says none of her customers complained, nor did the staff, but this is the second time since the first of the year the town of Clarence has lost its water, and Kemp says it'd be nice to get a head's up.

Why do you want to get a call?

"I think it's a courtesy. There's a nursing home, school, two restaurants. I think they should let us know they are going to turn the water off," says Kemp.

That way, employees can work ahead to prepare. Now that lunch hour is over, the dirty dishes will just have to wait, and if you have to use the restroom in Clarence, you're out of luck

Over at the Clarence Elementary, you can flush the toilets...sort of. Maintenance Manager Dwayne Totten came up with a pretty unique idea. There's a leak in this gutter, so Dwayne put a trash can underneath it to collect the melting snow. Then he gathers the water in five gallon buckets, and uses it to, well, finish the job.

"We have automatic hand santizers. That's how the kids are washing their hands so we can stay in school," says Principal Karla Matlock.

Principal Karla Matlock says staying in school is important because the district has already used five to six snow days. And staff here made the best of the situation. The city brought in bottled water to drink, and lunch was served on paper plates. And with Dwayne Totten's clever idea, students here were able to function pretty normally for the most part.

City Superintendent Dennie Carothers tells KHQA having the water off to the whole city is not an ideal situation, but hopes everyone understands why it has to happen.

He says the worst scenario would be if a fire broke out because the fire department wouldn't have any access to water.

As a precaution, Shelbina's Fire Department was on standby.

Once water pressure is restored, there is a 48 hour boil order in effect for the entire town of Clarence.