Day 2 of the Jacksonville water emergency

By Gary Scott on June 29, 2016 at 11:26am

This morning, emergency services officials said progress was made last night at the city water treatment plant, and levels are being gained after a major water main break depleted much of the supply early Tuesday morning.

Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard has said the city is “not out of the woods” several times, and he hammered that point home when focusing on potential problems down the line while speaking on “AM Conversation” on WLDS this morning.

“It’s other aging pipes throughout the system, throughout the town, that- when you bring water pressure down to the levels we did, and crank the pressure back up, there could be some water mains that get exposed and don’t come back. So, we’re going to keep a close eye,” Ezard says.

Morgan County Emergency Services Director Phil McCarty was asked during a press conference yesterday afternoon about what caused the water main break, and how much water was lost.

“We may be able to figure out here in the next couple days, there will be a report that will come out from us that will have a lot of our loss and a lot of our explanations on what happened,” says McCarty. “But, it’s going to be several days out. Our focus right now is to make sure we get the community back safe for public safety sakes, with potable water.”

McCarty says there wasn’t any flood damage from yesterday’s break, indicating the water that spilled seeped back into the ground.

Yesterday afternoon, he praised the dedication of the water treatment plant workers.

“When I was there early this morning, they were right on the scene, and they were addressing the problem, and they immediately addressed the problem. There was no wait for daylight, there was no wait for work hours to start. We’ve got some of the most dedicated employees that we could ever have, and they addressed the situation immediately and very professionally. We’re very lucky to be where we’re at today, right now,” he says.

City officials are planning another press conference at 2 p-m today.

The Nichols Park Pool will remain closed today, and a “no burn” notice remains in effect for all of Morgan County.