Routine maintenance caused officials to shut off water to an Army post in central California. The culprit was a water main break
Since Aug. 11, troops and families at Fort Hunter Liggett still do not have clean drinking water, reported Military.com.
According to a video update posted on the base's Facebook page Aug. 21 morning, public works officials identified "many areas of concern" and that repairs entail shutting off water for most of the buildings along one of the base's main streets, Infantry Road, on Aug. 23.
According to an Aug. 22 post, water will be off from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and that, out of an "abundance of caution, the Garrison is also planning for limited on post activities on Wednesday (Aug. 23)," reported Military.com.
Community partners including the Red Cross have provided grants and other aid to displaced families, according to a video posted Aug. 21, reported Military.com.
"This garrison is going above and beyond to do whatever we can to ensure that we maintain an acceptable quality of life for those who live, work and train here," said garrison commander Col. Lisa Lamb in the video, reported Military.com. "We're going to get through this together, and we'll make sure that we continue to take care of all of our trainees, our civilians, our service members and our families here at Fort Hunter Liggett."
The base's child care center will be closed Aug. 23 and 24. Work done Aug. 23 is expected to speed up the process of water being restored to the Milpitas housing area, which has been without any water since the initial incident Aug. 11, said officials in the video, reported Military.com.
Fort Hunter Liggett is the Army Reserve's largest training installation at approximately 165,000 acres. Approximately 500 personnel permanently live at the post and hundreds to thousands of service members are typically training at the base at any given time.
When exactly clean drinking water will be available has not been determined, according to a statement Command Sgt. Maj. Eric Rupp gave Army Times. Officials aim to have clean water back to the entire post by Aug. 30.
Running water was later restored for most on the base, but a boil water advisory is still in place, according to a Facebook post, reported Military.com.
According to Rupp, within hours of the water shutoff, drinking water trailers and portable toilets arrived on post, reported Army Times.
Residents in Milpitas housing area have no water at all and were required to move into other on-base housing or hotels.
