The Town of Mooresville plans to have its raw-water intake pumps repaired and installed by late tomorrow.
Two of the town’s three pumps that operate the raw-water intake in Lake Norman have not been working since Friday. According to a press release issued by Maia Setzer, the town's director of administration and finance, one pump had been under repair since last week, and the second was “impacted” earlier this week.
The only pump that has been working throughout the weekend is one that can draw about 3.6 million gallons of raw water into the town’s water treatment plant. On average, the town typically treats about 4.5 million gallons of water a day. Fortunately, the town had in storage about 13 million gallons of treated water and 4 million gallons of raw water that could be finished and pushed into the system at any time.
The town began drawing down the finished water on Friday “to limit the need to overwork the existing pump,” Setzer said “If our customers will stop all unnecessary water uses, the water supply should be sufficient until the pumps are repaired.”
In addition to issuing the press release, Commissioner Mitch Abraham recorded a message on the town’s CTY Connect system to inform Mooresville residents of the situation and ask them to conserve water. Residents received that automated call Friday afternoon. And we responded by reducing our water consumption yesterday to an estimated 4.1 million gallons of water, down from the average of 4.5 million gallons.
Meanwhile, some town staff members have apparently worked throughout the weekend, monitoring the pumps and treating the 4 million gallons of raw water that the town had in reserves.
Some questions remain unanswered. Shortly after the town’s press release was posted in the Report, commenters started asking questions:
- If one pump had been malfunctioning since last week, and the other had been impacted since earlier this week, why is the town just now pulling both pumps up to assess the damage and repair them?
- Didn’t the town spend “mega-millions” to connect to Hickory's water treatment system in case of emergencies like this?
- Was the town performing regular maintenance of the pumps?
- What about the new water plant and pump station that was supposed to be fully operational more than a year ago?
Those are questions that the town will need to answer.
Meanwhile, at least since Friday, it appears that the town has acted quickly to execute an emergency back-up plan, it promptly alerted residents of the potential crisis, and some town staff members have worked diligently to resolve the situation with minimal impact to the town’s water customers.
The town attributes its "success" to the responsiveness and back-up emergency plans of town staff, the town’s preparedness through the Hickory interconnect (though I’m not yet sure how that played a part), the ability of the town to immediately alert its citizens through CTY Connect and the town’s cooperation and communication with the county, state and local fire departments.
Town commissioners expect to receive an update on the situation at a town board meeting scheduled for tomorrow night.
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6 comments:
Jaime, I'm a bit confused on the TOM Board meeting??? It usually is the first Monday of every month. If it is tommorow night, most people will not be aware of it, and The Board will have a light turnout, which is always in their favor. Please advise, Thanks
Hey, Vic. Thanks for the question. I have not confirmed the exact reason for the meeting that is apparently scheduled for tomorrow night. However, the meeting is not the town's regular monthly town board meeting. That meeting, as you stated, is the first Monday of every month. But oftentimes throughout the month, the town holds special meetings (such as budget meetings). Let me see if I can confirm the purpose of tomorrow's meeting ... and thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify that. Sorry if I confused anyone!
Hey Jamie,
Just a question since we're talking about water, in the past I've seen large trucks(tanker) trucks fill up at fire hydrants with pool co. logos on the side and trucks with sprayers on the front to clean streets. These hydrants don't have meters on them, and this is Mooresville's water, how do they pay us for it? I think we should have a system like Fayetteville, where these trucks have to go to a loading station and put in a code to fill up their trucks, and they are billed by account. Please check into this for us, not like the town will change taking care of these folks, but its worth a try, thanks.
The meeting monday night is the public hearing on the budget.
Thanks, 1:20 p.m.
Here's the meeting announcement/agenda:
The Town of Mooresville Board of Commissioners have scheduled a special meeting on June 23, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. in the Executive Board Room at Mooresville Town Hall for discussion of the following:
1. Approval of budget amendment
2. Public Hearing – Gross Receipts
3. Public Hearing – Proposed Budget
4. Appointments to Boards and Commissions
5. Closed Session – G.S. 143-318.11
A. Consult with Attorney – G.S. 143-318.11(a)(3)
B. Personnel – G.S. 143-318.11(a)(6)
12:35 PM
Do as i do and call non emergency police number - We had the same thing going on near here. The officer told me that there is a few very few that have ability to get water. Most do indeed to go a filling station that is metered.
They are more than likely stealing water
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