Jackson, Miss. officials have announced an emergency after pump failures at the city’s largest water treatment plant.
On the night of Monday, Aug. 29, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced a state of emergency after excessive rainfall caused further problems to the city’s already challenged water treatment plants. These problems have caused low water pressure for much of the city, which led to concerns over the system’s ability to supply water for toilets, showers, and firefighting.
The city has two water treatment plants. The O.B. Curtis plant treats 50 million gallons per day (MGD) and the Fewell plant normally treats 20 MGD. The larger of the two is located near the Ross Barnett Reservoir, which doubles as water supply and flood control. Flooding at this reservoir, after the excessive rainfall event, affected the plant’s operation.
According to Reuters, the flooding caused the pumps at the main plant to fail.
The O.B. Curtis plant’s main pumps had actually been damaged and out of operation for about a month. The plant had been operating on backup pumps when the flooding caused another failure.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency plans to begin distributing both drinking water and non-potable water for over 150,000 residents. The Fewell plant’s production has been increased from 20 to 30 MGD. The state will also call the National Guard to help.
Jackson’s residents have already been under a boil water notice since late July, due to a cloudiness in the treated water. Now, residents will have low water pressure for at least a few days.
State and city officials quickly issued statements on the crisis.
Lt. Gov. Delber Hosemann said, “Our understanding is the water and sewer system serving 250,000 citizens of the State and numerous businesses is at the brink of collapsing. We have grave concerns for citizens’ health and safety. It is apparent the cities served by the system do not have the assets to address this issue in a timely manner and effectively for the longer term. I believe it is time for the State to take an active role in finding a solution — both short term and long term.”
