Town of Sandersville deals with discolored water

SANDERSVILLE, Miss. (WDAM) - The Town of Sandersville is facing some water problems and they’ve been constant the past few days.

The main issue: discolored water flowing from the town’s taps.

Sandersville has three water wells- one elevated and two in the ground.

The elevated tank was recently refurbished, leaving two remaining wells in use.

Sandersville Mayor Bob White said last week a tree limb disrupted “communication” between the wells, causing the water system to not operate as it should.

“I ran to the well and put it in manual, but I needed to know what the pressure was because I did not want to blow a line up and so I had an employee come over here to these tanks and watch the pressure,” White said. “As he told me it got close to 70, I’d turn the well off. We’d wait until (the pressure) fell to about 40 and I turned the well back on.”'

The town is now running off the two tanks, which are regulating the pressure and sending water back to homes.

However, the water is slightly discolored.

“The problem with that is that because we’re running just the one well, it’s stirring the lines real well, it’s just turmoil in the lines themselves,” White said.

Residents voiced concerns, so the town ran tests to make sure the water was safe. The results showed no harmful bacteria in the water.

“They assured us that it’s safe to drink, safe to bathe in, it’s just discolored a little bit,” White said.

White said the town was using all the manpower it had, hoping to get the problem fixed as soon as possible.

“We’re trying the hardest that we can and as soon as we can, we’ll get that well on, that produces the pretty, clear water, get it back on the system and take the other one off the system,” White said.

White said the issue should be fixed within the next week.

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