Described as a water-pressure issue, the effect is a crisis that some in Memphis are feeling more acutely than others.
The starting point was last week’s storm, the first of the winter and one that brought the coldest temperatures many can recall in recent memory.
Public safety moves were made to provide shelter for those in need and Memphis Light, Gas and Water crews scurried to restore power. At the height, some 226,000 customers were without electricity.
Life as normal was interrupted by rolling blackouts that came in short-notice waves that tested the nerves of area residents.
Then concerns mounted about the water. At first it was a couple of service areas — and that’s not to minimize the effect on those residents. Not long after, the misery spread with boil-water mandates and subsequent directives to decease with all non-essential water use.
Media briefings were set to explain. There was plenty of water, but with breaks in the water main, and even more problematic, leaks in commercial establishments, the word crisis was, well, more than a word.
As Memphians and their neighbors do, people pitched in, answering the call for donated bottle water for those with no water service. And as that continues, on Tuesday came details of water being provided — not to drink — but to be used to force flush toilets.
At that point, some 38,000 MLGW customers were without their basic water service.
At the distribution point in Hickory Hill, The New Tri-State Defender talked with motorists as they edged forward to get the non-potable – read DON’T DRINK IT – water, along with on-the-spot instructions about how to use it and flush their toilets.
Wow!
It still is uncertain, when the situation — crisis — will be over.
And as difficult as it was for some to take in, Doug McGowen, MLGW president/CEO, said the matter could have been worse, if not for recent infrastructure improvements.
There is, he said, room for optimism.
The City of Memphis, with the support of the Shelby County Health Department and donations from Home Depot, will distribute non-potable water again tomorrow (Dec. 28) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hickory Hill Community Center, 3910 Ridgeway Rd.
Repeat: the water is for flushing toilets only.
Reminder: NON-POTABLE water is not safe for drinking, cooking or bathing. https://t.co/ey1rxk0xEZ
