Hundreds without running water as leaks deplete treatment plant

BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — Hundreds of residents on Turkey Creek and Route 292 have no running water due to leaks depleting the Martin County Water District Treatment Plant.

Alliance Water Resources manager Craig Miller told the Mountain Citizen that crews are searching for a “large leak that is draining the tank faster than the water district could fill it.”

“Unfortunately, the leak on Turkey, which happens to be where I live, has not been found yet,” Miller said. “We are installing valves and isolating parts of the Turkey pressure zone in an effort to find and fix this large leak. We apologize for the inconvenience and really appreciate everyone’s support and patience while we continue to try to fix and improve the system.”

Miller said the district ran into “the perfect storm of events” over the past week.

“We suffered power outages and multiple lines being hit by outside utilities,” he said. “While we were doing some construction to get customers access to water at Muddy Branch off Coldwater, we experienced a failure on a pressure reducing valve on Turkey Hill. Once the Turkey PRV was bypassed, we experienced a large leak that we have not been able to locate.”

The storm started early last week for residents on Turkey Creek and Route 292.

Calf Creek resident George Brown said Thursday that he had experienced low pressure for a couple of days. His water was on and off over the weekend, and he had no water Tuesday.

“You have to keep the bathtub as full as you can get it from the trickle that comes out to be sure you have water to flush with,” Brown said.

Becky Fraley Whitt, who lives on Turkey Creek, said her water had been on and off since June 19.

“Now they are saying it’s going to go back off,” Whitt said Tuesday morning. “This is crazy.”

Residents of Turkey Creek and Route 292 were not the only ones with water woes.

Coldwater Road residents began reporting a water outage early Thursday. They had no water late Thursday night when they went to bed. Water district personnel advised those customers that the interruption was due to water line replacement at Muddy Branch.

Tomahawk, Milo, Old Route 3, Spence Branch and Buffalo Horn were not spared the week without outages. On July 19, the gas company hit a water main on North Milo Road, which affected them. Two days earlier, they lost water when storms interrupted power to the Route 40 West pumping station.

Tomahawk resident Tonya Shearer said water pressure was low July 20, and she had no water service Monday. However, her service was restored Tuesday.

Another Tomahawk resident, Jennifer Jude Crum, was feeling annoyed Tuesday morning.

“Every time they repair a small leak, they turn the water pressure up so high it causes other pipes to burst and causes people’s pop-off valves to blow off their hot water tanks,” Crum said. “The leak in my neighbor’s yard looks like the one they repaired a few months back … Don’t turn the pressure up so high after fixing leaks. It’s a shame working people have to use a dribble of water to try to take a bath before work.”

In Warfield, a leak in a water main forced MCWD to shut off water Saturday night and wait until the following morning to perform excavation.

Miller said district staff had worked through the weekend to keep as many people in the county in water as possible.

“Additionally, we have been given assistance from the City of Prestonsburg, for which we are very grateful,” said Miller.

As of Tuesday, there was no estimate of when Turkey and Route 292 customers could expect service.