An unknown amount of untreated wastewater was released in Dover on Wednesday morning after a sewer pipe broke near Carroll’s Plaza.

Carroll’s Plaza is located at 1114 S. Dupont Highway (Route 13), which is about half a mile from the St. Jones River. The exact location of the break was not provided in Kent County Levy Court spokesperson Kelly Pitts’ initial news release, but she confirmed via email the cause of the break is not yet known and the wastewater was untreated.

The breakage occurred in a sewer force main, the release said. Sewer force mains are “pipelines that convey wastewater under pressure,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has been notified and “water flows are being diverted to minimize the overflow where possible,” the release said. Kent County staff are on site working on repairs. When repairs are complete, “the next step will be to clean up and to sample downstream waterways tomeasure bacteria levels,” the release said.

In the meantime, city of Dover water customers are asked to conserve water.

More information will be shared as it becomes available, the release said.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Wastewater spills after sewer pipe breaks in south Dover