Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison has lifted the countywide emergency declaration that has curtailed non-essential water usage since Wednesday. The restriction had only applied to car washes in an effort to help conserve water.
Thawing conditions and breaking pipes had strained the county’s water supply. Normal usage for this time of year is around 7-8 million gallons per day. At the peak, over 12 million gallons of water per day were being distributed, with the vast majority of that excess spilling into the ground through line breaks. Most of those breakages were being discovered on individual homeowner’s property, rather than on the utility lines. Laura White with the Greeneville Water Commission said the daily load had dropped to 9.8 million gallons per day, and that the water department was able to top off the reservoir and storage tanks for both Greeneville and the utilities that it serves.
The restriction also meant that volunteer fire departments were restricted from using hydrants to fight fires, unless in the case of threat to someone’s life.
Mayor Morrison’s Statement:
With excellent, continued improvement overnight across the entire water supply system, I am officially ending the Declared Limited State of Emergency for the Greene County Water System effective at 12pm, 12-31-22.
- After consultation with Greeneville Water Commission Director, Laura White, we feel that gains in pressure and capacity are sufficiently sustainable to reconnect car washes and end drafting procedures for VFDs.
- GWC reports that pumping demand continues to decrease, (down to 9.8 mg/d), indicating less water loss. GWC continues to see gains in all their water supply tanks and they have opened those tanks to supply gravity feed thus no longer relying on just system pressure.
- Chuckey Utility District also received good news from their water testing overnight and Director, Tyson Lamb has announced an end to the “boil water” notice.
- Chuckey Utility is reporting water level gains in all of their tanks (clear springs, chuckey, south central, horse creek, and limestone), However, Director Lamb noted that customers living on or in higher elevations may still experience intermittent loss, low pressure/weak flow until the system completely stabilizes.
- Two moderate Leaks and breakages in 6 inch lines have been repaired in the Glen Hills system and they report no notable system supply issues.
- North Greene, Mosheim, Old Knox, and Cross Anchor have reported no notable water supply issues in their systems.
- Homeowners, Landlords, and Business managers are still highly encouraged to check lines and meters for leaks or line breakage.
- Utility Districts report that most of the identified water loss across our entire system has occurred on the “customer side” of the meter and has gone unnoticed.
- Greene County is blessed with many talented plumbers and water line contractors, and water repair specialists, but the events of the past week have kept them extremely busy and booked. Identifying the problem and notifying them quickly may save additional outage of your service.
- Water distribution points at Chuckey Utility and Emergency Management will be closed until Tuesday, January 3rd unless the situation deteriorates necessitating reopening.
In true Greene County fashion, we appreciate everyone’s patience and willingness to sacrifice to help their neighbors. Emergencies are always difficult and inconveniencing. We appreciate and commend all of our Utility District personnel, Greeneville Water Commission, and our Emergency Management team. They are few in number but literally worked around the clock to keep the water supply system viable and operating, finding and fixing leaks and shifting supply to keep as many with service as possible. Thank you. God Bless and we are grateful to be in a much better position to see 2023 come in.
Kevin C. Morrison
