Benton City admin sat in on the 8:30 conference call this morning with leaders across the area, EMA and members of the Rend Lake Conservancy District, on behalf of Rend Lake Intercity Water regarding the water situation. The following update was released by the Rend Lake Conservancy District on behalf of Rend Lake Intercity Water and encompasses information the Benton Water Department and City Hall would like our customers to pay close attention to. The release is as follows:
8:30 am Update: The 36" main line repair has been successful. The Intercity Water Plant is pumping water into the system with two high service pumps. The lake intake and the treatment plant have been returned to service. The system will be on a boil water order until Intercity Water receives test results showing the water is safe to drink. Towns and water districts may only collect their samples after Intercity receives a report showing that the water is safe to use. Intercity Water will draw samples on Saturday. Intercity Water will receive results on Sunday after 2:00 p.m. Because of the complete shut down and the emptying of pipes and tanks, the sediment will be disturbed. Please alert all of your customers that there will be an increased possibility of the incidence of air and floating copper and lead in the lines of your customers. Ask your customers to remove aerators from faucets or to use supplies without aerators, like tubs, to flush the lines of the customers. This simply means to let the water run for a couple of minutes before collecting water to be boiled and then cooled for consumption. Towns and water districts may not see the levels of their tanks rise until noon. District ground storage tanks are currently being filled. Booster pumps will be used to fill the tanks of the towns and water districts. Please be assured that the water is rapidly getting to all the corners of the system but since most elevated towers and other water storage requires the use of District booster pumps, you may not see a significant rise in your water levels until noon. ... See more
