FEBRUARY 22, 2015
PIKE COUNTY, KENTUCKY. (WSAZ)
Major water issues have
been reported in Pike County, Kentucky.
The county says ice and debris are blocking water intakes on
the Big Sandy River. That, and assorted leaks, have left more than eight
thousand people without water.
Six distribution centers are in place. But most of them are running out of water quickly, as it's being brought in by the state.
Six distribution centers are in place. But most of them are running out of water quickly, as it's being brought in by the state.
According to the Mountain Water District, they have been
experiencing affects from two recent winter storms since February 15.
Officials with the company says there are wide spread
outages in the district and a boil water advisory has been issued until service
is restored. As of Monday morning, there are more than 13,000 customers
affected by the outages, which is about 75% of the customers on the system.
Officials say their system is currently depleted in water
storage. They say this is due to several reasons, including customer use to
prevent freezing, leaks on the customer's side due to freezing water lines,
intermittent power outages to boost pump stations and ice accumulations, which
resulted in the loss of telemetry and the ability to pump raw water to the
plant due to ice build up in the river blocking intake screens.
"It is severely limited all of our abilities on the
river, all the intakes on the various systems to produce water at this
time" says Potter.
Grondall Potter with the Mountain Water District says there
have been no major water line breaks since the bad weather hit. He says the
majority of the leaks have been on the customer’s side. He also says the City
of Pikeville and City of Williamson have been experiencing similar issues,
which had limited their ability to produce and provide water for the Mountain
Water District.
Potter says water storage has reached critical levels and
will remain that was until providers can producer water and customer leaks had
been identified and isolated. They have been able to start producing limited
amounts of water, and hope to begin to restore service and check areas for
leaks.
The City of Pikeville has also been experiencing similar
issues.
When water is restored, officials ask residents to conserve
water and that it will take weeks to get back to full potential.
"What you'll see is very low water pressure coming into
your line, into your home. So what we're asking again is limited and the source
is limited it'll take us about two weeks to get our full reserves back up"
says Pikeville City Manager, Donovan Blackburn.
Several fire stations in Pike County are offering water for
residents without it.
You can get water at the following places:
Pikeville Fire Station 1
Belfry Fire Dept. Station 2
Big Creek Fire Dept
Blackberry Fire Dept Station 2
Coal Run Fire Dept
Elkhorn Fire Dept
Feds Creek Fire Dept Station 1
Johns Creek Fire Dept Station 1
Kimper Fire and Rescue Station 1
Marrowbone Fire Dept Station 1
Millard & East Shelbiana Fire Dept 1
Phelps Fire Dept Station 1
Shelby Valley Fire Dept Station 1