BETHEL – As if flooded roads and businesses were not enough, high water shut down the town’s treatment plant Wednesday night.

The Bethel Water District acted quickly, asking its customers to implement water conservation measures, said district Trustee John Head.

“District personnel are unable, at this time, to predict when water operations will return to normal,” Head said while reading a district press release issued at 9 a.m. Thursday.

But despite the sudden shutdown, all water lines within the system are full and there is a half million gallons of treated water in storage at the district reservoir on Paradise Road.

“Upon full implementation of conservation measures, this should provide adequate water service to the town for 48 to 72 hours (or) hopefully, longer,” Head said.

However, damage to treatment equipment was substantial.

Heavy rains Wednesday night into Thursday morning caused flooding at the district chlorinator building. This caused the automatic shutdown of water treatment activities, Head said.

Sophisticated controls at the chlorinator assure that no untreated water has, or will, enter the distribution system.

By Thursday afternoon, technicians were headed to the station, which had been pumped free of flood waters, to repair the damaged equipment.

“We would like to repeat that only treated water is in the system and that water is safe for any use, including drinking water. We hope to have this problem resolved in a matter of a few hours.

“In the meantime, we ask that our customers do not use water for any purpose other than absolute needs,” the press release stated.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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