The mayor of Alto has declared a local public health state of emergency after two major water leaks at the old Mt. Vernon Mills property drained the town’s reservoir. In response, the town is cutting off its drinking water supply to major commercial and industrial users in an effort to keep its remaining supply of potable water available to residents.
According to the emergency declaration mayor P.J. Huggins issued Thursday afternoon, Alto is suspending its delivery of potable water to commercial customers “until such time as the potable water within the Alto Water Distribution System is restored to normal operating levels.”
READ Alto Emergency Administrative Order
The property where the two major water leaks occurred is now owned by Phoenix Alto Industrial Investors and includes the recently opened Hodie Meats. Tencate and Steel Cell both lease storage space at that facility as well. Mayor Huggins’ order is also expected to affect Dollar General and Alto Grocery.
The town charter authorizes the mayor to take such actions in the event of public emergencies. Any commercial or industrial water customer that does not comply with the emergency order faces having their water supply shut off.
The emergency order is effective immediately and will continue “until the state of emergency no longer exists,” the order states.
Other area water systems running low
The measures taken by Alto are among the most drastic water conservation measures taken by a local municipality so far, but Alto is not the only supplier facing flagging water supplies. Demorest and White County have also put their water customers on alert.
Demorest proactively asked its customers to conserve water on Christmas Day “due to the inclement weather.”
Water supplies have been stressed by the recent extreme, subfreezing temperatures that caused pipes to burst. Systems were also drained by customers leaving faucets on to prevent frozen pipes.
White County Water Authority Director Edwin Nix says now that temperatures are warming up, he is asking customers to cut their water use to help build up water tank supplies.
“Now that the temperature is moderating, we ask that [you] please cut that water off and kinda’ conserve as much as you can,” he urged. “We can’t seem to catch up. Our clear well – we usually have 10 feet of water in that clear well; we haven’t had over three foot [sic] of water in that clear well in three or four days. And the plant’s been running 24/7 since last Thursday morning, and we will probably have to do that the rest of the week trying to get the tanks full,” said Nix.
Nix says supplies in White County should return to normal within “the next few days.”
