Filtration system takes a hit
A lightning strike during Wednesday's violent thunderstorms incapacitated the new water filtration system at Florence water plant.
Joe Marzullo, a U.S. Filter technician from Colorado Springs, was contacted by the city Thursday morning and arrived in Florence Friday.
By Friday afternoon he had one of the filters working at partial capacity. Marzullo was awaiting additional parts which didn't arrive until Monday morning. The city spent the weekend with only one pumping system running at roughly 60 percent capacity.
On Friday the Florence city council authorized importing water from Peabody in dairy tankers. The goal was to fill the water tower, water lines, and the clear well in hopes of having enough water to get through the weekend.
Water transfer ended at 9 p.m. Friday after 70,000 gallons were trucked to Florence. The city uses about 30,000 gallons a day.
Transfer was arranged by emergency management director Michele Abbot-Becker under the county's mutual aid program.
Besides being an inconvenience to Florence residents, the stricken water plant posed serious potential problems for the city in terms of lack of fire protection and trouble in the water distribution system.
Florence fire chief Tony Leeds said he contacted the county dispatcher after the lightning strike and asked that Peabody and Marion fire departments be notified in the event of a structure fire in Florence. Both departments have tank wagons to transport water.
An additional problem can arise in the water lines if the water level is allowed to fall too low. Once water drops below a certain point, pressure in the lines falls, allowing pockets of air to get into the lines resulting in water leaks.
Reduced pressure also can create a situation called back siphonage where water flows backward through a home's water system.
Back siphonage can pull water from a toilet, dishwasher, or washing machine into a residential water system. The bacteria and chemicals introduced into a household system can cause serious illness.
The imported water kept Florence water tower, lines, and clear well full, and water pressure at an appropriate level until the pump repair was completed Monday.
In addition, council issued a voluntary water conservation directive asking people in Florence to do what they could to conserve water. Residents were asked to refrain from sprinkling lawns, washing cars, filling pools or fountains, or using evaporative air conditioning systems.
City employees and volunteer fire fighters went door-to-door Friday afternoon to hand-deliver flyers outlining voluntary water conservation measures.
At the council meeting Monday night discussion was held about reviewing water plant systems and looking at solutions to prevent a recurrence of the problems caused by Wednesday's weather. Possible solutions and cost estimates will be presented at a future council meeting.
City clerk Darla Gore said Tuesday the city had not yet heard from its insurance carrier about possible coverage of the water plant and its systems.
