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UPDATE: UTILITY ISSUE IN JEFFERSON COUNTY

 
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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 today, and the following updates were provided:

9:55 a.m., February 26, 2021

 

What's new since our last update

  •     Two customer-reported leaks over night
  •     Liberty working one leak on their system
  •     Liberty representatives arriving this morning to support drive-thru free bottled water distribution:

- Liberty location at 1100 S State St, Pine Bluff. Distribution hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

  •     We also wanted to share this event with you to share out with your stakeholders:

- Lowes Water Giveaway (cases of water) to the community, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday at their 2906 East Harding Ave location.

 

What's happening today

  •     Today's rainy weather, while challenging, won't stop Liberty's crews from continuing to systematically canvass zones within the community.
  •     As the pressure stabilizes across the system, they are unwinding the segmentation that was done to focus Plant 2 to better serve Jefferson Regional Medical Center. This is allowing us to return the system to normal operating parameters. This work is happening in tandem with the work to stop the water flow from leaks and the work to repair leaks found on the Liberty system.

 

By the Numbers - 2-25-21

  •     Water pressures at plants as of 8 a.m.

- Pressures remain stable (typical operating pressure is between 50 and 60 PSI)

- Plant 1: 49.3 PSI

- Plant 2: 66.3 PSI

- Plant 3: 50.2 PSI

  •     46 Liberty operations team members on site and working in the community plus assistance from contractors, local police, fire, and wastewater utility. Additional relief crews will join the efforts over the weekend.
  •     Total number of leaks / breaks found to date:

- 285 customer leaks addressed (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).

- 32 leaks on the Liberty system repaired to date

- Current water production level: 13.310 million gallons (typical for this time of year is 7 to 9 million gallons)