A Message From the City Manager:
I wanted to take the opportunity to speak about the water main break on August 25 that resulted in a significant number of our Clermont and Warren County water customers being out of water service for an extended period of time. Also, I want to speak about our repair efforts, our communication to our residents, and what we are doing to improve all facets of these types of emergency situations moving forward.
First, the cause of the outage was an
8” high pressure water main on Oak Street that experienced an 82” lateral crack, which caused the water tower at White Pillars to drain. The city has an emergency connection near the White Pillars tower with the Clermont County water system, which was activated. However, that connection did not function properly. If the Clermont County connection had functioned properly, the city would have been able to complete the water main repairs with only a minimal number of residents out of water service.
Once the repairs were made, the city communicated that the repairs were complete, although many households were still experiencing no water. This was due to the lack of function from the Clermont County connection, the need to turn back on multiple water valves that were shut off during the repairs, and the amount of time it takes to repressurize a drained system. I must acknowledge that I should have held off on the notice to our residents until it was clear that the system was repressurized. Ultimately, Public Works crews were able to modify the Clermont County connection last evening, which allowed the tower to begin to fill and slowly put residents back in water service.
The city communicates to its residents through our alert system, our website and social media, all of which were utilized yesterday. The city’s communication center received numerous calls during the outage, and city staff worked to keep them updated.
Moving forward, we are thoroughly reviewing yesterday’s events and what steps we can take to improve, including regular testing of all emergency interconnections and improved resident communications, including other alert methods that may be available.
Meanwhile, the water boiling advisory remains in effect. Once all the required sampling is completed, we will notify our residents when it has been lifted.
Having the opportunity to speak with numerous residents during the outage yesterday, your understanding of the situation was incredible and much appreciated by myself and city staff. Please know that we are working through every facet of yesterday: what went right, what went wrong, and how to make it better.
David Kennedy
City Manager