- Details
- Category: Past Issues
PUTNAM --- With water levels below where they should be at the town's water treatment plant, the ban on most outdoor water use is still in effect.
William W. Trayner Sr., director of the Water Pollution Control Authority, said Putnam has passed 14-day mark of the current water supply emergency and is in Stage III of its emergency response.
“In accordance with our emergency response plan and an emergency ordinance recently adopted by the Board of Selectmen, all nonessential water use must be curtailed,” he said, adding “Putnam has not had a significant rainfall event of 2 inches or more since June 12, and the most recent seven-day forecast is not promising.”
The goal of the emergency response plan is to reduce pre-emergency water usage, which was approximately 1.0 million gallons per day, by 20 percent, he said.
He said the flows in the Little River, where Putnam’s water treatment plant is located, have been below 9.04 cubic feet per second (cfs) for a total of 12 days this month. The 9.04 cfs level was the flow agreed to in a Consent Order between the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the town for the month of July as the minimum flow necessary to protect the river’s aquatic resources. When flows drop below the 9.04 cfs mark during the month of July, the treatment plant must cease diverting water from the river, unless there is a declaration of a water supply emergency which suspends the DEP requirement, he noted.
“Putnam has been operating under a Declaration and Order of Public Water Supply Emergency issued by the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health since July 6, which allows us to divert from the river when other sources cannot supply our needs. Fortunately, we were able to quickly arrange for a temporary interconnection with the Connecticut Water Company to provide the town with additional water,” he said.
“Connecticut Water has supplied us with water since July 7 through the temporary interconnection, and the total volume of water received to date is 6,416,000 gallons,” he added. Since the emergency was declared, the balance of the water supplied to our customers has come from the town’s Park Street wellfield, and limited diversions from the Little River under the terms of the health department order,” he said.
“We are still banning watering of lawns, washing cars, washing of driveways, sidewalks, and all other non-essential uses of water,” he added.
In addition to various notification requirements, the Phase III emergency requires the WPCA, in cooperation with state and local officials, to implement a water rationing plan. The plan must provide for the essentials of life sustenance for as long as possible, as well as providing water for medical needs and fire protection. A predetermined amount of water must also be held in reserve for fire protection, he said.
If necessary, arrangements shall be instituted for emergency service of drinking and cooking water by tanker to any areas where water service has been cut off, and local police and water department personnel must strictly enforce mandatory rationing of water, if necessary, he said.
“So far, due to the present interconnection, we have not had to resort to such drastic measures as rationing water; however, a plan for these measures is being drawn up, in the event that the interconnection were to be shut down for any reason,” he said.
“So far we have had excellent cooperation from the community, and we are again asking residents to conserve water in any possible way. I want to personally thank everyone in the community for your cooperation during this time and hope that soon this drought will be but a memory,” he added.