The water woes continue for the City of Grenada.
Thursday afternoon, the City Council had to scramble together to hold an emergency meeting via teleconference to approve much-needed replacement parts for the Green Street water well. According to Grenada Water/Sewer Department Interim Superintendent Fred Chapman, the meeting was necessary to prevent a major break down in the well, which is imminent and could occur at any moment.
“What’s happening is it’s breaking suction,” he explained Thursday following the quick meeting. “It’s coming up and it breaks suction.”
The plant feeds the City’s two Pine Hill water tanks – 1.1 million gallons and 1,000 gallons – which supplies water service to thousands of customers living and operating in a wide coverage area throughout the city.
“It’s not filling the tank right now,” Chapman said. “So everything is going to distribution and after everybody’s needs are met or the supply is met, it’s trying to fill the tank and it’s not doing it [quick enough].”
With water line ruptures occurring almost daily throughout the city, the tank filling slowly could add to the number of outages if the necessary repairs are not made.
During the meeting, the Council unanimously declared an emergency and approved the purchase of a new pump and casing for the Green Street plant. Ratliff Water Well Services, Inc., in Holcomb was awarded the $37,418.71 repair job, which will begin "at sunrise" Monday morning, according to Chapman. While the repairs are being made, residents and businesses serviced by the Green Street plant will experience low water pressure and possible outages.
According to Chapman, the Green Street well and the nearby Bryant Street well service most all of the “old town” to Bogue Creek to the end of Main Street to Hwy. 51 South to the old Earl McKay building and to Carrollton to Branscome roads. It also includes Grenada High School to Monroe and Govan streets, fire protection for the University of Mississippi Medical Center-Grenada, most of the Whitehaven subdivision except for Beverly Drive and ends around Thimmes Subdivision south to Hwy. 8/Sunset Drive. It also feeds across to Mary Avenue and stops around French Quarter.
“Barring any unforeseen issues such as more main breaks, we hope with water in the tank, we won’t have any outages,” Chapman concluded. “We just can’t say at this point for certain what’s going happen.”
Work could last up to two days, but Chapman is hopeful that all of the repairs can be made Monday as long as crews don’t encounter issues.
For more, see Wednesday's edition of The Grenada Star.
