Update: Ezard addresses water emergency at press conference

By Ryne Turke on June 28, 2016 at 9:25am

The first of two meetings, in response to a water main break in Jacksonville, was held at the city’s municipal building this morning.

According to Mayor Andy Ezard, the break was discovered by operators at around 2 a.m., right in front of the current water facility.

“So we had to basically shut down our plant. It is offline now. The engineers in our water department are working diligently to get this problem corrected. It is unknown when the problem will be corrected, but make sure you know they are working tirelessly. We are optimistic that sometime today we can have our water plant back online. This is an emergency,” says Ezard.

Even if the water break is fixed by the end of the day, the boil order could last between 24 and 48 hours.

Morgan County Health Department Director Dale Bainter and Jacksonville Emergency Services and Disaster Agency Director Phil McCarty stressed the importance of conserving water.

Included in Jacksonville’s water emergency is the Scott/Morgan/Greene Water Co-op, Alexander Rural Water, Murrayville-Woodson Water Commission and Village of Manchester. McCarty estimates more the 20,000 people are being impacted by the water main break.

For more information on what to do during a boil order, go to morganhd.com

Video footage of the press conference can be viewed on our Facebook page.

A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for 2 p.m at the Jacksonville Municipal Building.

UPDATE at 9:30 a.m.: A “no burn” notice has been issued for Morgan County and the City of Jacksonville until further notice.

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