Liberty tests water to avoid boil order
Liberty Utilities personnel submitted a third bacteria sample to the Arkansas Department of Health this week in hopes of finding assurance that refurbished filters at its Fifth Avenue plant will help keep water safe for consumption without the need of a boil order.
Liberty indicated in a stakeholder update Wednesday that a sample sent Tuesday, which followed an inconclusive test of the original sample from Monday, came back clean, and that the health department required another test. The inconclusive test had chlorine present. Samples have to be free of chlorine so that if there is any bacteria present in the water that comes through the filters, the bacteria can be detected by the lab, Liberty said.
Liberty said it received a waiver Wednesday allowing the filters at Plant 1 to go online while awaiting results of the follow-up test, but during an incident command meeting at Jefferson Regional Medical Center on Wednesday evening, utility Vice President Mike Beatty announced Liberty would be forced to issue a boil order for Pine Bluff water customers if the follow-up test did not come back clean.
The filters, which underwent regular maintenance and were not impacted by the recent snowstorm that overstressed the Pine Bluff water system, are not yet brought online as a precaution, Beatty said. He added that the
existing filters at all three plants “are doing their part” to keep the water safe for drinking.
As water pressure increased at all three plants — 41.1 pounds per square inch at Plant 1, 71.4 psi at Plant 2 on 28th Avenue and 43.7 psi on Industrial Drive as of 4:29 p.m. Wednesday — some large businesses in Pine Bluff indicated they would resume services.
A representative for the Tyson Foods plant at the Jefferson Industrial Park said its water system went back online at 2:30 p.m. Pine Bluff Assistant Fire Chief Ernest Jones reported Saracen Casino would resume operations today with water coming in at 42 psi. A Jefferson Regional representative said the hospital plans to bring dialysis care and laundry services online today with pressure increasing to 52 to 54 psi just before 5 p.m.
Normal water pressure is considered between 50 to 60 psi. The water production level in Pine Bluff, however, was 12.8 million gallons per day, well above the norm of 7 million to 9 million, according to Liberty officials.
“The fact that we’re still flowing at over 12 million gallons tells us that we’re still losing water. That’s why you see that pressure like it is,” Liberty President David Swain said.
At least 118 residential leaks have been reported and addressed, Liberty reported, noting some of the leaks discovered this week were duplicate findings.
Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington asked Beatty if he was certain the water pressures across the city would remain stable as usage increases.
“That’s correct, ma’am,” Beatty answered. “We believe we have stabilized. We’re still producing a lot of water. We know there are some leaks to be found out there, but we’ve stabilized these pressures, so we’re gaining.”
The pressure, however, wasn’t strong enough for leaders in the three Pine Bluff-based school districts to reopen campuses for students today. Pine Bluff, Dollarway,and Watson Chapel district officials announced their classes would continue under a virtual learning format.
Washington pressed Swain about how the increased water pressure is affecting the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff campus. Residential students have been sent to hotels in Little Rock, White Hall and Pine Bluff after the water problems compromised the campus boiler and sanitation systems.
Swain said a Liberty representative is working with UAPB officials on the matter.
“The boiler room at UAPB has 15 feet of water in it,” Swain said. “They’ve had something freeze or break on it. They also had breaks in the water system, not just their heating system.”
Swain announced Liberty would make a $250,000 donation to help Jefferson County residents who’ve been impacted by the leaks by the end of this week. He asked County Judge Gerald Robinson, who was absent from incident command meeting, and Washington to help Liberty find a manager for the funds and plan how to best distribute them.
“We recognize the problems we’re seeing out there where these pipes are busted or frozen,” Swain said. “Usually when you’ve got some pipe that’s busted, it’s quite expensive. And, so, [the funding has] some details to work on it.”