Mississippi’s largest city in water crisis for 3 weeks
City still coping with failures caused by storm
Jackson’s public water has been unsafe to drink for thousands since a February storm.
JACKSON, Miss. – A water outage has caused many to lug gallons from distribution sites to their homes just to flush the toilet. Low pressure in faucets has made it difficult to shower or wash dishes. A citywide water boil notice has left thousands of people without immediate, safe drinking water.
Officials in the city of roughly 160,000 people said the water pressure was being restored after it was depleted by a winter storm that passed through the area three weeks ago.
The water in Jackson is still unsafe to drink. The city remains under a boil notice issued Feb. 16.
Testing revealed the water contains high levels of turbidity, or cloudiness, which increases the chance it may contain disease-causing organisms.
Public Works Director Charles Williams said Monday the notice could be lifted for some areas of the city Thursday once water tanks were full and sampling could take place.
How did this happen?
Feb. 16
Winter weather and icy temperatures choked equipment at water treatment plants, rendering water pressure inadequate.
Nearly 43,000 water customers were placed under a boil-water advisory.
Feb. 18
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba announced the capital city did not have a definitive timeline for total water restoration.
Williams noted water main breaks that further complicated the process of getting water to residents.
Water distribution sites began to lace the city, and fire stations made available nonpotable water for residents.
Feb. 22
The state Health Department recorded 300,000 customers under boil water advisories across Mississippi.
Convenience and grocery stores saw a surge in demand for bottled water as many residents did not have safe water. Supplies began to run low.
City spokeswoman Michelle Atoa said Jackson provided more than 26,500 bottles of water and about 7,000 gallons of nonpotable water.
Feb. 23
Gov. Tate Reeves suggested a state takeover of Jackson's water system. Reeves tweeted he'd secured tankers to provide nonpotable water. He activated the Mississippi National Guard to assist during the crisis.
Feb. 24
Officials said most of the city would see water restored by the end of the week, but they warned residents water main breaks could cause delays.
Ten water distribution sites popped up.
Feb. 25
Williams said at a news conference water pressure was increasing gradually at the water treatment plants, which allowed them to pump out more water.
Mayor Lumumba and Williams point to Feb. 26 as a more likely date water would be restored.
March 1
Williams said the water system was still stabilizing and pressure was near ideal levels Feb. 28, but those levels had fallen. South Jackson residents struggled with a lack of water and pressure.
Up to 80 water main breaks were reported since the storm hit. Workers mended the breaks, while volunteers, community members and officials manned water distribution sites.
The Water System Business Administration announced it would offer residents a chance to have their bills adjusted if storm damage caused a lack of water or broken pipes.
March 2
Officials said they did not know the number of residents without water or the date for full restoration.
Williamssaid south Jackson residents in high-elevation areas were dealing with outages, but he did not know how many were without water.
March 3
Water intake filters full of clams, mussels, fish and other items forced systems offline to clean the filters, Williams said. Some customers who had seen water pressure return may have lost it again, he said.
Williams confirmed more than 10,000 water customers did not have any water. Aging infrastructure was the main reason for failure, he said.
March 4
Media outlets get hold of an email Lumumba sent to Reeves on March 3. Lumumba requested about $47 million in emergency funding from the state and federal government to cover a wide range of projects relating to water system infrastructure.
State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said the Department of Health continued to monitor the quality of Jackson's water supply and was working with the city.