The Hot Springs Village water system was greatly impacted by the Thursday, March 14, tornado that swept through the Village, leaving havoc and chaos. This report explains some of the issues encountered by the water department and solutions.
POA requested water conservation on March 15
On March 15, at 11:55 a.m., the POA notified Villagers that the Public Services team was asking Villagers to begin conserving water immediately. The water treatment plant was without normal power, working solely on generators. Numerous storms were causing system leaks, and normal water usage was straining the system and rapidly draining the storage tanks.
Multiple water leaks discovered after tornado led to water outages
Public Services Director Ken Unger said they discovered multiple breaks in the water system on Friday, March 15. “When we identified the breaks, we isolated the broken mains. Because the plant was operating, the residents in those areas lost water as we isolated the mains for repair. Some of them were difficult to reach because they were covered by fallen trees. We installed new valves to isolate those areas so we could restore water to more residents.”
Boil Order to affect 50 or 60 homes
At 11:00 today, Superintendent of Water and Wastewater Chris Boutzale stated, “We are repairing the last known leak on La Pralabra. Lightning struck the water main here, causing the water tank in this area to drain faster than expected. A boil order has been issued for this area, which is expected to last until Wednesday.” This leak was difficult to detect because the water was drained out of the line due to the tank being emptied.
Unger said, “One of the issues we had is the pump that fed the water tank, which feeds around 50 homes in the Mesero area, was down. The generator we had couldn’t fire the pump. The power and water service were restored in that area.”
A boil order is in effect in the Mesero area. Red signs will be installed in the boil order area, with blue signs signifying the boil order Lift. Boutzale said they have notified the residents affected by the boil order in person.
The photograph below shows where a tree limb pierced a water main, causing the worst leak.
The water plant has been restored to full capacity
Boutzale said, “We are now 100% back up in the water system [all discovered leaks have been repaired]. All of the large water tanks are full.”
Unger stated, “Restoring full capacity at the water plant allows us to compensate for any leaks still in the system. Residents can expect intermittent outages as more leaks are discovered because it will be necessary to isolate the leaks for repair.”
Cortez Lift Station
Boutzale shared, “We were powering the Cortez Lift Station by generator. Things were proceeding smoothly until this morning when the pumps ceased working, which caused overflows on Rubi Circle. We are sorry about this. We were aware of the malfunction. This is now working under generator power, but when Entergy reinstates the power, this may cause some issues, and we may have to reset the lift station. The problem is we don’t know when they will turn the power back on, and sometimes it can cause an issue when the power is restored.”
Possibility of more leaks being discovered
Other breaks may be found as trees are cleared. “We still have areas in the water system that we have not been able to access because the storm debris has not been cleared. We know there are probably more leaks in the system,” stated Unger.
The backup generator was not upgraded when the water plant was upgraded
“The overall problem was the water plant backup generator was not upgraded when we upgraded the water plant in 2014, and apparently, it can only support one pump. We effectively only have half the normal plant capacity when we experience a power outage. The power has been restored, so the plant is fully operational,” Unger said.
We now know we should install a bigger generator at the water plant. We can repurpose the existing generator.
Boutzale asks for residents’ help
“We need the help from Villagers because even though we knew we had leaks in the system, we can’t always ‘see’ all the leaks until residents notify us of the problem,” Boutzale said.
Still experiencing water problems after 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 16?
Boutzale said that water service will be fully restored by 1:00 p.m. this afternoon (Saturday, March 16) unless there is an unknown leak. “If anyone doesn’t have water service by 1:00 p.m. today, they should notify the POA by calling 501-922-1323. A crew will respond to determine the problem.”
Accolades to everyone working to keep the Village going
Unger said, “These guys did a fabulous job trying to keep the place together.” Crews worked long hours under difficult conditions to keep things going.
Overall need to conserve water
Unger speaking on the water issues caused by the tornado, “This just goes back to the whole story on water conservation. People say, ‘ We have plenty of water. We don’t need to conserve.’ When we have an event such as the recent tornado, if we operated in a more conservative fashion, I probably would not have had to ask people to please conserve. This is a great example of why conservation is a smart strategy, period. Then I wouldn’t have to tell Villagers to conserve water because they already would be.”
Venturi meter installation
The Venturi meter, previously scheduled to be installed on Tuesday, March 16, has been moved to Thursday, March 18, due to the tornado. This article discusses the installation of the Venturi meter.
One Village – What affects one of us affects all of us!
Even if you didn’t have any negative repercussions from the tornado, your neighbor down the street may have. We sometimes lose sight of the fact that we are one Village. What affects one of us affects all of us.
By Cheryl Dowden; Photography provided by Ken Unger
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HSVPOA PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
Ken Unger
Director Public Services
Hot Springs Village
501-226-9609
Kunger@hsvpoa.org
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