Wednesday's Internet Edition, March 10, 2010.
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Progress News Writer -
Don't drink the water. At least if you're a resident of Jacksonville and get city water. That's what the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and the City of Jacksonville are saying.
Before drinking the water or using it for cooking, residents are asked to boil the water.
North Cherokee County Water Supply customers are also under the same precautionary measures by the TNRCC. Because of conditions which occurred over the weekend in the water system, TNRCC required the city to notify all customers of the problem.
City Manager Jeff Ellington said for all city customers to boil the water until further notice.
Water for drinking, cooking and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to consumption, according to city officials.
City officials also said the water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. Instead of boiling, one may purchase water or obtain water from some other source.
"Lake Jacksonville is our primary source of water; we have two large pumps out at the Lake," Ellington said. "One of the pumps had been down and is under repair. Over the weekend, the electrical panel on the other pump broke, leaving some residents without water.
"Everyone now has water, but in the process of trying to fix it, the water pressure is low.
He added once the pressure gets to a certain level, the TNRCC requires the city send notices out to people stating they must boil their water before consumption. The measure is to ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes.
The city is also asking for a volunteer water conservation. City Secretary Betty Thompson said they are asking people not to turn on sprinkler systems and to conserve water use until the water problem is solved.
Local businesses were notified by city officials Monday of the restriction. Kendall Burden of Best Water Store in Jacksonville said she has had a lot more customers because of the problem.
"We have had a bunch of people from the hospital and some residents come and buy bottled water," she said.
Karen Adams, spokesperson for East Texas Medical Center in Jacksonville said the hospital had to make some adjustments. Bottled water and bagged ice are being used by the hospital. She added the hospital isn't using its ice machines.
John Moore, spokesman for Mother Frances Hospital-Jacksonville, said this situation has in no way affected patient care at the hospital.
"The water department is working hard to rectify the problem," he said. "Until the problem is solved, we will bring clean water in from storage at Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler and we will use bottled water."
Most local restaurants had to make some adjustments during the day Monday. The majority of Jacksonville restaurants said they were not serving ice or water until further notification from the city.
"We won't endanger the public at any cost," said Kathleen Stanfill, owner of Larissa House. "We're in limbo until we hear something from the city."
Ellington said the city is trying to rectify the problem as soon as possible, but cannot give a day when it will be fixed.
"We are trying to get it done as fast as possible, but there is nothing simple about it," he said.