Germantown water crisis addressed by city, county and state
By Thomas Sellers Jr., W10/MVP News
Since late June severe thunderstorms have flowed throughout the Memphis area.
Damage has poured down over areas like Germantown from trees down to power outages. The latest disaster to trickle down to residents of the city came at 3:31 p.m. last Thursday.
On July 20 Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo declared a State of Emergency, city officials issued an order advising residents not to drink tap water because diesel fuel from a generator used to power a water facility during a power outage had leaked into the water reservoir.
The apparent water contamination led to a “no drink, no bathe, flush only” directive to residents of Germantown after the source of the problem was located at the Southern Avenue Water Treatment Plant.
By Monday night Palazzolo held a press conference to update residents on the solution phase.
“We were very pleased last evening to release to the public that our residents that are east of Forest Irene Road, about 20 percent of the land mass of our city, are back on our water system,” he said.
Last week residents noticed an odor coming from their facets and reported it to city officials. The City of Germantown has been assisted by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Shelby County Health Department in locating the issues, providing relief and seeking the solution.
Germantown receives water from two treatment plants, Southern Avenue and Johnson Road. The leak of diesel was detected at Southern Avenue Plant and those receiving water from Johnson Road were fine.
On Sunday, July 23, at 9 p.m., the City of Germantown and TDEC had reached an agreement to allow water customers east of Forest Hill Irene Road to resume consumption and normal use of water from the City system.
“We continue to flash and test every day,” Palazzolo noted Monday night. “Today’s test didn’t come back positive and we didn’t get an all-clear.”
Palazzolo said construction on a new water tower in Germantown is nearing completion. The city hopes to expedite getting that new tower online, possibly allowing remediation at the Southern Avenue Plant.
The City has opened more than 100 fire hydrants as part of the relief efforts. The City of Collierville has provided water from their system and TVA has distributed water to residents.
Meanwhile, Palazzolo noted a total cutoff of the Germantown water system would limit overall resources and hamper the fire departments. The process of recovery must be done through a patient, careful cycle.
“I live at Burrows Farm Cove and I still smell diesel in the water,” a Germantown resident wrote online. “I have voiced this on every posting from Germantown. I have emailed the Mayor and his office. I am looking at three fire hydrants, none have been flushed. There are so many children/babies within this area. Does anyone care?”
Palazzolo asked residents to be patient and know the work on restoring the water system to total safe level is non-stop.
To keep up with the recovery map, visit at Germantown-TN.gov/WaterRestorationMap.”
For information on water distribution, information is available at https://www.germantown-tn.gov
