ARDMORE, Ala. (WHNT) — Ardmore Water Department provided an update on the ongoing issue after the water system was disconnected from the Limestone County Water Authority due to its water tank issues.
On Tuesday, around 8:45 a.m., the Town of Ardmore said the Limestone County pumps were turned back on. However, the town said it will take several hours to fill, but there should be a noticeable difference by the afternoon.
You can view the town’s full statement on Facebook here.
On Sunday, officials with the Town of Ardmore stated that this disconnection had caused Ardmore Water to experience low pressure and asked residents to conserve as much water as possible until further notice is given by Limestone County Water.
On Monday, officials said that the fire department is bringing potable water and buckets to the fire station for flushing toilets. They added that they hope to have drinking water available soon.
Ardmore Fire & Rescue said the town is under a no-burn warning until further notice.
The Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority released a statement on social media Tuesday about the issue in Ardmore. The Authority said it had warned the town to be mindful of its system usage, as a pump went down.
The Authority also said a larger system issue began Saturday, saying “Ardmore’s staff adjusted their water usage pattern to a level that breached their contractual agreement with LCWSA on how much water could go through the Ardmore system.” From there, on Sunday, the authority said it decided to limit the town’s water usage, which the authority says they did, but by noon, water consumption in the town resumed to “almost normal consumption.”
You can read the full statement below.
“Treated water is a finite resource that all water systems must carefully monitor. Limestone County Water and Sewer Authority (LCWSA) has gone to great lengths to communicate the limitations of that resource to its wholesale customers, including the City of Ardmore. LCWSA embarked on substantial capital investments several years ago to meet the County’s continued growth, including two new treatment plants, rehabbing another plant, and many miles of transmission mains. Several projects have cleared permitting and made substantial progress in engineering design. LCWSA has been transparent with Ardmore that these projects take years to implement.
Last week, LCWSA had a pump go down and warned Ardmore to be mindful of their system usage. LCWSA immediately started up the redundant pumps at the plant facility.
The larger system issues began on Saturday, August 30th, when Ardmore’s staff adjusted their water usage pattern to a level that breached their contractual agreement with LCWSA on how much water could go through the Ardmore system. On Sunday, the 31st, LCWSA had to make the challenging but necessary decision to limit Ardmore’s ability to take more water or run the Northeastern section of the LCWSA system out of water. At this time, LCWSA asked Ardmore to disconnect its pump. Ardmore curtailed usage for a short period of time. However, by 12 pm on August 31st, Ardmore’s consumption had resumed to almost normal consumption, notwithstanding the fact that their system wasn’t improving. On Monday, September 1st, Ardmore’s connection with LCWSA was valved off, so the LCWSA tank could gain some water to build up system pressure. Once water systems drop pressure, rebuilding them is a slow process.
LCWSA anticipates that it will be able to resume supplying Ardmore with some water on September 2nd. LCWSA has sent a crew to help Ardmore identify why their system needed excess water at the onset of the problem, and why the subsequent water would not build pressure in their system.
This morning, we learned that Ardmore found a significant leak in their system. This leak was a feed from one of their well sources.”
Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority
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