First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our friends in Nashville who have suffered losses from the recent flooding.
When you see an image like the one on the right, probably the last thing you think of is a water shortage. And yet, despite the severe flooding in Nashville over the weekend, residents have been asked to conserve water for just that reason.
In this case, the rising of the Cumberland River has swamped several municipal water treatment facilities and now threatens the city’s last fully functioning treatment plant. The article below explains why Metro Water is asking everyone to conserve water by 50% or more.
Nashville Residents Asked To Conserve Water
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The director of Metro Water Services gave an update Monday afternoon. The Cumberland River may threaten the remaining water treatment plant for the city of Nashville.
As a precautionary measure, the Office of Emergency Management has begun sandbagging at the Omohundro Water Treatment Plant.
If the plant goes off-line, Nashville will be out of water.
The Cumberland River was supposed to reach its peak at 51.5 feet around noon. We are now told it will crest at 52.5 feet at 8p.m., and then start to recede into Tuesday.
“The National Weather Service advises us that flooding is expected to happen again today. The river isn’t expected to go below 50 feet for the next 24 hours,” said Metro Mayor Karl Dean.
With lingering high waters, one of the two water treatment facilities remains under water.
“The water is safe. The water quality is confirmed to be proper. I have seen it with my own eyes. I need every citizen in Nashville to decrease their water usage by one-half. We’ve got one-half of the plant capacity. I need everyone to use one-half of the water they would normally use, if everyone does this — we will be able to get through this crisis satisfactorily. If we don’t do that — we will have a problem,” said Scott Potter with the Metro Water Services.
The State of Tennessee is also assisting with sandbagging efforts at the Metro Center levee. That area had to be evacuated Sunday night.
via Nashville Residents Asked To Conserve Water – NewsChannel5.com.
