BY SANDY DODSON, State Correspondent, The Tennessean
PIKEVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 27, 2000, (Bell & Howell) — Disappointment poured out along with the mud that spouted from the fourth well drilled here in the past two weeks.
"I thought we had had it," said Mayor Howard Little. The mud shut the pump completely down.
This well was among the latest attempts to find a temporary water source for the city after three of its four existing wells quit last week, spawning a water crisis.
Yesterday, a fifth well was bored, Little said, and once again hopes are high that the underground water source it taps is a good supply. This well struck water at 390 feet.
"It will be the middle of next week before this pump is operational," Little said. "We had hoped that fourth well would have been working today (Friday), but now it will be midweek."
Problems continue to plague the water system as the only working well now serving the city is decreasing its production from 290 to 270 gallons per minute. The normal demand for city water customers is 400 gallons per minute.
Warnings to boil water for at least five minutes before drinking remain in place until the new water source is operational and approved by the state for consumption. Area residents still are being urged to conserve water as much as possible.
"Most people didn't realize how serious the problem was at first," Little said. "Now, most of them believe there's a crisis, and everyone has been pretty good about conserving water."
Fresh drinking water donations continue to pour into the community.
Yesterday, two truckloads of water rolled into Pikeville from radio station US101 and Bi-Lo, which both had held a water drive in Chattanooga earlier in the day and collected more than 8,000 gallons.
The National Guard also is bringing two tankers of water to be pumped directly into the city's holding tank at the water plant.
© 2000 The Tennessean via Bell&Howell Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.
