City Water Supply Is Short

Water supply concerns have prompted the Monticello City Council to reinstitute a ban of all outdoor watering for city residents and businesses through the end of the year—that means no washing of cars, pressure washing, or watering of flowers, etc. until January or until the issue is revisited by city council.

The ban is a result of a diminishing water supply within the city, according to city manager Hugh King. As of Monday the city’s reservoir was down eight to nine feet, a decrease of more than a foot since a reservoir report to the council last Tuesday.

“We want and need rain,” he said.

Mr. King reported that the city opened up Popes Branch for operation as a water source last Thursday. As far as the city manager was aware that water source had not been used in five or six years, at least four years before he was employed with the city.

“The branch was excavated and cleaned up last week,” said Mr. King.

With regard to the Lowery Branch supply, the city manager said that those lines were being funneled into the water treatment plant. As of this week the city’s water tanks at Frobel and Georgia-Pacific were full and functional.

Minus the low level of the reservoir and lack of rain, the city water woes have improved since Wednesday when higher-than-normal levels of manganese were detected in the water. Mr. King said that water was treated immediately after the discovery and commended city workers on their “great response to the water situation.”

During that process last week, the city manager said that he advised Georgia-Pacific and the Jasper County Fire Department to avoid use of city water services if at all possible on Wednesday and Thursday.
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On Friday, after that situation had been corrected, Mr. King said those organizations were advised that water use was fine at that point. In fact G-P was drawing water from the city on Monday, said the city manager.

Jarrett Slocumb, chief of the Monticello Fire Station #3, said that he was advised of the city’s water situation last Thursday by the city manager who urged that the department use other sources, if possible, until the water situation improved.

Station #3 responded to a house fire on Benton Street Saturday morning that required use of a city hydrant.

Mr. Slocumb said that when firefighters hooked up to the hydrant they were able to receive water. He also said that Mr. King informed him Monday that the city’s water supply was in better shape than last week.

Aside from the pre-existing factors, the city manager said that the city’s water supply had been recently impacted by unauthorized withdrawals, made by subcontractors for Parrish Construction, from an unmetered fire hydrant line at the new high school construction site.

The average daily water intake for the city registers at .3 or 300,000 gallons, according to the city manager. Reports monitoring water usage data over the past two weeks reflects usage of .6 to .7, 600,000 to 700,000 gallons on several days.

Mr. King said that the discovery of the water withdrawals was brought to the attention of city public works employees last week when College Street residents began reporting orange discolorations on many of their laundered items after removing them from the washing machine.

Such effects typically signal a water main break so employees searched for breaks in the line but found known.

It was later determined that the discolorations were a result of changes in water pressure which came as a result of the decreasing water supply.
Mr. King said that presently it was not known exactly how much water the construction company had withdrawn but once that figure was determined it would be sent a bill.

Apparently the construction company had been filling two tankers for about a week from that line designated solely for fire services. The water was used for paving services, which requires an abundance of water, at the new high school site.

When the gap in water usage was determined last Thursday Mr. King contacted School Superintendent Jay Brinson to alert the school system of the situation. Parrish Construction is contracted by the Jasper County School System to build the new high school.

When advised of the situation, the school superintendent informed the city manager that he would speak with the construction company and that any bill for services should be sent to the company, according to Mr. King.

On Tuesday Supt. Brinson acknowledged that he had been made aware of the situation by Mr. King last week. The superintendent explained that the withdrawals were made after normal business hours, when the treatment plant was closed.

Supt. Brinson also said that the company believed to have made the withdrawals, Three Kings Construction, was a subcontractor for Parrish Construction. He contacted the project manager as soon as he learned of the situation, he said.