UPDATE: Utility Issue in Pine Bluff

The City of Pine Bluff along with Jefferson County and other officials and stakeholders have been conducting daily meetings with Liberty Utilities in an effort to gain updates on what actions the company is taking to resolve the issue of low water pressure in the city.

A meeting was held this morning, February 24th at 9 a.m., and the following updates were provided:

What's new since our last update

•     Since 4 p.m. yesterday, leaks were found in some unoccupied buildings including a major leak at a vacant school - fire suppression service line broken and shut off.
•     No customer-reported leaks overnight. Liberty has been receiving leak reports this morning.
•     Crews from Arizona, California and Missouri have arrived. Liberty now have 52 team members working in the field.
•     There is a dedicated team member working with the University to assist them with their waterline break.
•     Pressures have improved at the hospital, and it's our understanding that they began accepting in-patients yesterday.
•     Liberty submitted the first bacteria sample to the Arkansas Health Department on Monday and it came back inconclusive yesterday. They had to submit another sample yesterday. They've been told by the Health Department that they should have the results by around the noon hour today. A clean sample will enable them to bring the additional filters online at Plant 1. They expect this to help with water pressure at Plant 1.

What's happening today

•     Liberty's crews are working in teams to systematically canvass zones within the community. This includes neighborhoods and unoccupied and/or vacant buildings and schools.
•     They are working with the Pine Bluff police department to access vacant buildings.
•     They continue to focus Plant 2 on the hospital. This is an effort to improve water pressures at Jefferson Regional Medical Center.
•     Collaboration with the Pine Bluff police department, fire department, and wastewater utility continues.

By the Numbers - 2-24-21

•     Water pressures at plants as of 6:45 a.m., 2-24-2021

- Pressures have remained stable or improved

- Plant 1: 25.6 PSI

- Plant 2: 65.2 PSI

- Plant 3: 36.8 PSI

•     52 Liberty operations team members on site and working in the community plus assistance from local police, fire, and wastewater utility
•     Total number of leaks / breaks found to date:

- 111 residential leaks - some duplicates in the original data that was coming from the field removed - more leak reports coming in this morning (These are not Liberty systems, but customer-owned pipes. Once reported, we shut off the meter to stop the flow of water and allow customers to begin repairs).

Current water production level: 12.131 million gallons (typical for this time of year is 7 to 9 million gallons)