TN Boil Water Advisory's

17 counties are now reporting drinking water issues across Tennessee!

Alicia Patton & Colleen Guerry

1/22/20247 min read

17 counties in TN are under boil water advisories17 counties in TN are under boil water advisories

We have listed the counties and or cities affected by the boil water advisory's across Tennessee first, full story follows.

Reported Issues w/ Boil Water Advisory In Affect

County- Water System

Crockett- Friendship Distribution System

Gibson- Gibson CO MUN Water District #1

Giles- Pulaski Water Department

Giles- Minor Hill Water System

Giles- Tarpley Shop Utility District

Giles- South Giles Water System

Giles- Fairview Utility District

Hardin- Savannah Utility Department

Hardin- Limestone Water Utility, LLC as Aqua Utilities

Henderson- Lexington Water System

Henderson- Scotts Hill Water System

Henderson- Sardis Water System

Lauderdale- Lauderdale County Water System

Lawrence- Lexington /Rascaltown

McMinn- Resolute Forest Products

McNairy- Adamsville Water Department

McNairy- Michie Water Department

McNair- Selmer Water System

Shelby- Memphis Light, Gas & Water

Reported Issues w/out Boil Water Advisory In Affect

County- Water System

Bedford- Bell Buckle

Carter- First Utility District of Carter County

Giles- Admore Water System

Giles- Ardmore

Greene- Chuckey Utility District

Lawrence- NE Lawrence

Lawrence- Fall River Road

Lawrence- Summertown

Lawrence- Leoma

Lawrence- Lawrenceburg Utility System

Maury- Mount Pleasant

Winter weather disrupting water supply in communities across Middle Tennessee

by: Alicia Patton, Colleen Guerry

Posted: Jan 20, 2024 / 09:06 AM CST

Updated: Jan 20, 2024 / 10:20 PM CST

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Several communities are now reporting water issues as a result of the winter storm that moved across Tennessee earlier this week.

The winter storm that began Sunday, Jan. 14 and lasted throughout Monday, Jan. 15 brought along heavy snowfall and below-freezing temperatures.

Leaders in various counties are now urging residents to conserve or take additional steps before consuming the water.

Maury County

Officials in Maury County are asking residents to conserve water if possible. The Maury County Fire Department posted on Facebook just before 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 asking residents to try to conserve water for the next two nights.

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“With temperatures dropping to near 0 the next two nights please allow our utilities to refill their tanks as much as possible,” the Maury County Fire Department said on Facebook. “They are working diligently through this winter storm event to keep customers water flowing”

Pulaski

The City of Pulaski announced shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20 that crews were called to repair a 6-inch water main leak on South Cedar Lane. Residents were asked to conserve water and be patient amid the repair efforts.

Gallatatin

The Gallatin Police Department issued a warning shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday about dangerous road conditions while crews were working on a broken water main along Hartsville Pike near Cottage Drive.

“Due to the combination of water from the main and freezing temperatures, the road in this area has become extremely slick, leading to icy conditions,” authorities stated. “Your safety is our top priority, so please exercise extreme caution if you’re driving in this area. Stay safe, everyone!”

Tennessee Ridge

Customers of the Tennessee Ridge Water System were advised to boil their water until further notice. The city said the advisory was issued out of an abundance of caution due to low water pressure across the system, which was caused by extremely cold temperatures.

Officials said the Tennessee Ridge City Hall will be open Sunday, Jan. 21 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. to assist in the distribution of water vouchers. According to the city, vouchers will be distributed to customers who are without water.

A truckload of 19 pallets of bottled drinking water, or 912 cases, was set delivered at the Erin Church of Christ at approximately noon Saturday to help with those in need of water, the city said.

Then, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, officials announced a trailer with 1,500 cases of bottled water would be ready to distribute from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Tennessee Ridge City Hall, but only for customers who don’t have water.

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Saturday afternoon’s statement from the city said, in part:

Customers who have water, please follow the instructions on the boil advisory to ensure safe potable water. It may be an inconvenience but you at least you have water to boil. Your neighbors do not and they need the bottled water.

Each household will receive 4 cases of water which is equivalent to 12 gallons each day. The amount allowed may increase depending on the supply and demand.

Also, please continue to utilize the Erin Church of Christ distribution location to receive additional bottle water.

Everything humanly possible is being done to secure additional potable water for the customers affected by the water outage along with restoring water service. Phone calls and meetings are happening all day, everyday. It takes time. Securing potable water is a timely process. Restoring water service is a timely process.

The main priority is to supply DRINKING water. Please utilize the distribution program.

As stated in previous posts, there is not a timeline of when water service will be restored.

Pumping from Erin may not be an option due to their system experiencing low tank levels.

Please plan on utilizing the distribution program for the next several days.

Erin

The City of Erin posted the following boil water notice on Facebook just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday:

(Courtesy: City of Erin Facebook)

According to city officials, bottled water will be available for community members who don’t have water starting at noon Sunday in the Erin City Hall basement.

Franklin

The City of Franklin reported a water main break at the intersection of 4th Avenue North and Bridge Street, with a leak on 4th Avenue North.

Officials said crews started excavating at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, estimating the repair would take about five hours and about 14 homes could experience water interruption. However, shortly before 5:30 p.m., the city announced the roadway was back open and water had been restored.

Loretto

The City of Loretto issued a boil water notice Friday evening, but only for the Liberty Grove area. In fact, more than 200 cases of water were distributed to Liberty Grove and Rascaltown residents impacted by water pressure issues.

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City officials posted the following statement Saturday evening to provide some clarity on the water situation:

We are not out of water. In fact, we are pumping more water out in the system than we have in our utility district’s history. We generally pump 500,000 gallons per day and have pumping nearly 800,000 gallons per day the past few days.

The issue is high consumption due to more people being home, faucets being left to drip to avoid frozen pipes, and, most likely the biggest culprit, burst pipes.

The Liberty Grove area is the highest elevation our district serves. This means it is also the first area to lose pressure when the above events happen. Lexington’s water system purchases water from us at a meter located in the Liberty Grove area. This is the reason that portion of their system has lost pressure. No one has been “cut off” as has been falsely speculated.

Our crews are working around the clock to do all we can to identify leaks and make either necessary repairs or shut them off. We are continually monitoring our water plant to make adjustments to feed our system the most water that is possible.

We appreciate your understanding. Please continue to conserve water and to report any leaks.

Summertown

The Summertown Utility District posted multiple times on social media Saturday about the city’s water situation, including a boil water notice and announcements about bottled water being delivered.

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The latest information from the Summertown Utility District was posted at 7 p.m. Saturday:

To fully understand the issue, you have to understand the “plumbing” of the system.

The SUD wells are located near the water towers off of Hwy 20 and a well near the Fire Hall. All of these wells feed thru a treatment plant and are pumped into the Hwy 20 tanks.

Then, the water pressure from the elevated tanks, along with booster pumps, pushes water from those tanks thru the system and to the Freedom Rd tank.

The Freedom Rd tank and customers on the East side of Hwy 43 are also supplemented by the feed from LUS tie-in located in 3 Oaks.

When we had the combination of the LUS valve being shutoff AND the Hwy 20 tanks being low from over usage, we did not have a sufficient volume of water or the water pressure to feed the Freedom Rd tank or customers on the East side of Hwy 43.

Thru the day today (Saturday), the Hwy 20 tanks have been able to recover somewhat. They are still not to a high enough level to fully fill the Freedom Rd tank, but we are hopeful it will result in at least some water to customers on the East side of Hwy 43. Additionally, hopefully overnight, the usage will be down and we can also build up the tanks even more. All of the pumps have been running nonstop for the past several days. This should enable more households to have service on Sunday.

That being said, if you have been without water today – and find you do have water on Sunday morning, please continue to conserve as much as possible – or we will quickly diminish any gains and be right back where we were today.

Additionally, once the cold weather breaks this coming week, we can expect there will be leaks in water mains and households, as the ground thaws and shifts. If you notice any water main leaks, please notify our office ASAP – and repair any leaks on your side of the meter as well.

Thank you all for your understanding and patience as we work thru these issues.

Coffee County

The Coffee County Emergency Management Agency said Manchester Water and Tullahoma Utilities have asked customers to conserve water due to high demand from the cold weather.

Lynnville

The City of Lynnville is asking residents to take some additional steps to conserve their water usage.

At 11:18 p.m. on Friday, the city posted on Facebook saying there was only 12.5 feet of water left in the Lynnville area tank. Shortly afterward, residents were urged to conserve their usage.

At 2:25 a.m. on Saturday, the city released the following advisory: “At this time with the water leaks, consumption, and providers unable to refill our Lynnville tank, it is expected that we will not have water after 12:00 p.m.”

Residents were asked to turn off their water meters, open all inside faucets, drain the lowest point faucet outside, and cut off their hot water heaters.

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At 6:30 p.m., officials posted the following message on social media:

Lynnville Water Department would like to thank YOU for conserving water and taking action the last few days. This has allowed the water to last longer.

The tank is at 2.13

A lot of leaks were found today. There will be more leaks as the temperature continues to drop.

If you are out checking your meter dress warm and be careful. Temperature is continuing to drop.

Again, when the tank is empty that’s all the water we have until our provider is able.

To report any leaks, Lynnville residents are asked to call 931-303-8763.