Jackson residents should conserve their water resources and boil their water for three minutes before using it for drink, brush teeth, or cook, urged the State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney.
The State officials of Jackson announced on Monday that-The water system of drinking in Jackson- Mississippi’s largest city and home of more than 160,000 residents is falling. The thousand residents of Jackson are already facing no or little water pressure and official cannot say when it will be restored.
What happened in O.B. Curtis plant
The city’s largest water treatment plants may be completely down, said Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday at a press conference.
Reeves said “The O.B. Curtis plant is not working anywhere near full capacity.” “We may find out tomorrow it’s not operating at all. We’ll have better clarity on that when we get in there tomorrow.”
During a 2021 winter storm thousands of residents losing water between one and three weeks. The water system of the city has been plagued with problems for years.
Why water system of Jackson broken
The Water system has been plagued with problems for years and city already under a boil water notice since July for a water-quality issue.
The explanations given by officials about the system failure are complicated. The governor said that the damage this summer to pumps at the main water treatment facility made failure increasingly likely as the summer progressed and flooding of the Pearl River after heavy rain falls last week affected treatment processes
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declares a “Water System emergency” by saying that “water shortage is likely to last the next couple of days.”On Monday at 7 p.m. Reeves announced about the water system failure.
Reeves said that The operators have been courageous, just not enough of them” adding the city employees will be critical to get the plant running again.
Flooding makes worsen Jackson’s water crisis, raises calls for state intervention
(Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press)
Firefighters and recruits for the Jackson Fire Department carry cases of bottled water to residents vehicles, August 18, 2022, as part of the city’s response to longstanding water system problems.
Reeves also announce that he would create an incident command center to distribute water to the city. The city was facing the water issue from last one month But on Monday Jackson lost the water pressure.
Reeves told that their first goal to restore the water quantity so that people can flush toilets and take a shower and then to restore quality to end the boil water notice.
50 million gallons of water O.B Curtis is supposed to provide daily for the city while Fewell, the other main treatment plant, provides 20 million. It has been ramped up to provide 30 million.
Firstly water will be available at the fire stations in the town.
McCraney said It is a massive undertaking, that Mississippi is good at distribution.
Reeves said it is not clear how long of Jackson is completely without water.
Effects of water failure in Jackson Mississippi
An official announcement that all Jackson public school will shift to virtual learning by Tuesday has happened because of Monday’s failure.
Hospitals are also facing the problems. Jackson’s University of Mississippi Medical Center also released a statement Tuesday saying that “The Jackson Medical Mall air conditioning is not functioning properly because the water pressure feeding its chillers is too low”. Adjustable bathrooms are being used in locations experiencing low water pressure.
