Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison announced Wednesday afternoon that Greene County will be under a countywide emergency declaration that will curtail non-essential water usage.
Morrison said the steps are necessary while all the utility districts work to find and stop leaks caused by freezing and thawing pipes.
The first step taken under the declaration is to suspend operation of self-serve, automatic, and full-service car washes. Morrison said those restrictions were going into effect on Wednesday afternoon and would continue as long as necessary.
It’s hoped that with this restriction and the public’s cooperation in conserving water that more drastic steps won’t have to be taken. That could include the closing of restaurants and other large water consuming businesses.
Morrison urged water conservation, and added that just because a car wash is closed, the public should not use water at home to wash their cars. Morrison likened the situation to a bucket that has so many holes in it, that it is becoming difficult to keep up with the amount of water being lost to breaks and leaks.
Countywide, the Volunteer Fire Departments have also been told to use drafting water procedures instead of tapping hydrants to fight fires, unless life threatening situations occur.
Morrison outlined the steps being taken:
- Outages have occurred or are being reported primarily in the North Greene Utility service area and the Chuckey Utility Service area especially. The Chuckey Utility District receives water from Jonesborough Utility District which has experienced catastrophic water supply failure resulting in complete water supply cuts to Chuckey Utility.
- Greene County has several residents,(Chuckey area near Washington County line), that receive water through Jonesborough Utility and they are the most adversely affected. Additionally, due to the amount of leaks, line breakage, and water loss, Greeneville Water Commission is struggling to keep up with demand with the on-going water loss. Some of these outages occurred late Christmas Eve and throughout Christmas morning. Many leaks and water loss are just now being discovered as the temps increase and the ground thaws.
- Greene County Utility Repair crews are, and have been working around the clock to find, identify, and repair breakage in their systems. The unprecedented, extended frigid temperatures beginning on Thursday evening/Friday morning, December 22/23 have caused havoc across Greene County, our Tri-cities region, and in many other states. Rolling blackouts also contributed to our system-wide problems. We are working to fix all of these situations.
- I have issued a limited County-wide Declaration of Emergency that directs all County Utility Districts to suspend water service to all car washes, (automatic or self-serve), in order to conserve water and limit water usage in order to assist the supply for residential and business needs. This directive only affects car washes at present, and hopefully we will not have to implement any further restrictions, and this restriction will hopefully be very temporary.
- We are highly encouraging all citizens to conserve water whenever and wherever possible. Unless it is absolutely essential, we are asking everyone to help out with water conservation to help their neighbors who may be without.
- We are also asking all homeowners, landlords, and business owners to actively check for leaks, and monitor water meters for leaks or loss that might develop over the next few days as the temps warm and the ground thaws. Homeowners may have leaks and experience water loss that they do not know about. Utility districts are actively working to identify residential meters that may have leaks or breakage and causing water loss.
- We have set up emergency water distributions points at Chuckey Utility District and the Emergency Management Office for those affected by outage. The emergency supply is only for personal, family, or pet consumption for those affected by outage. Customers can come to one of these points for a free, personal emergency distribution. Distribution capacity to support other domestic uses like bathing or laundry will only be available when regular/normal service is restored.
- We have asked our VFDs to temporarily utilize drafting procedures from natural sources, (streams, ponds, river, creeks, etc.) when and where fire suppression water is needed.
- Affected Residents needing livestock/animal water need to coordinate with the EMA Office. 423-798-1729, M-F, 8am-5pm.
- Chuckey Utility District has published a boil water notice. As the utility attempts to restore water service, all consumable water for drinking or cooking should be boiled for 3 minutes before use. This notice does not apply to laundry or bathing water.
Like other emergencies, we are asking people to look out for one another, help one another, and conserve until the emergency passes.
Thank you.
Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison
