In one week’s time, customers of the Jackson Municipal Water System either had at least one Boil Water Advisory issued for them, while others had to put up with an interruption of water service.

During that time, the outages and advisories have caused inconveniences and tried the patience of many who rely on the vital city service, such as Beverly Burrows of Lost Creek.

“We at Riverside closed last Thursday at 12:30 because of the Boil Water Advisory. Then we closed all day today (Monday) because of no water,” said Burrows, who’s the the Assistant Administrator at Riverside Christian School. “The advisory isn’t so bad. We’ve had to buy bottled water for the kids and to cook with. But with no water, we can’t flush commodes, so it’s a potential health problem. And with some of the staff living on campus, it’s also posed a problem with them.”

Along with Riverside Christian, the Breathitt County Schools shut down Marie Roberts-Caney Elementary on Monday, due to no water in the area and due to the commodes being backed up as a result. Burrows told the Voice that members of the Watts Fire Department came and used water from their tanker truck to help flush the toilets on-campus.

Still, the frustration showed in her face. “It’s aggravating that we had to miss school on a day that we could have gone to school, like today. Now we have to make up those missed days. And with our school buying bottled water on a tight budget, but at least we’re lucky. I’ve talked to several up at Clayhole and Riley Branch, and they said they haven’t had any water since before Christmas.”

Much of the problem stemmed from two incidents that occurred at the Water Plant, said Jackson Mayor Mike Miller on Tuesday morning. “First, we had a disinfection problem at the plant last Wednesday, which caused the first Boil Water Advisory for all the customers until last Thursday night. Then last Saturday, an intake valve malfunctioned at the plant, which caused the water outage for some, and the second advisory for all of us. Everything at the plant is okay now, knock on wood.”

The Mayor said one of the problems with the water has been another essential element of life - air. Problem is, says Miller, air and water don’t mix when going through the pipelines. “The biggest thing we’re fighting right now is keeping the air out of the water lines. And in order to get the water taken care of, the air has to be taken out of those lines. We’ve got water back to Marie Roberts School, and we’re filling the line up to Route 476, and if nothing forseen happens by tonight (Tuesday night), everybody that lives along the highway should have good water pressure, and then by Thursday (today), everyone else who lives in the higher elevations should have good water pressure. The whole system has to be completely pressurized before the people in the higher elevations have good water pressure.”

During the past week of water woes, Mayor Miller added the entire system was affected so much, that the state Division of Water’s regional office in Hazard had to put that Boil Water Advisory for all the city water customers. “They’re the ones that issue the advisory, after they received information from us. Between 400 to 600 customers probably had no water between last Saturday morning to Monday morning. We’ve had some 200 customers that had no water from Saturday afternoon to Today (Tuesday), and some 50-75 customers that won’t have water until tomorrow.”

Miller also said crews were working on one 2-inch-leak on one of the lines near Route 15 South of Jackson at Kragon. “That’s up at Fish Pond Branch at Kragon, where Logan’s Body Shop used to be. The water’s been shut off in that area, in order for the break to be fixed. Otherwise, everything in town should be off the Boil Water Advisory today (Tuesday), then Highway 15 South up to Marie Roberts School should be up and off the Boil Water Advisory tomorrow (Wednesday), and Highway 476 area will be on a Boil Water Advisory until this Friday (tomorrow) or Saturday.”

During the past week, sales of bottled water - especially the big gallon jugs - skyrocketed in area stores. “Yeah, we sold quite a bit of water the last couple of days, especially the first day of the Boil Water Advisory,” said Angie Southwood last Thursday. Southwood works at the Jackson Wal-Mart, but the high volume of water sold was duplicated in area grocery and conveinence stores as well.

And while coffee sales weren’t affected too much, Betty Taulbee of Hardee’s on Highway 15 said that sales of soft drinks last Thursday certainly were. “Overall, it’s been a pain in the neck. The ‘Coffee Club’s’ not complaining, because our water gets hot enough for coffee. Then we can wash the utensils and use a sanitizer, so that’s not a problem. The problem is in the fountain drink machines. With no water for the machines and for ice, we had to use cans of pop. That slows us down, especially in the drive-up window. It’s expensive as well. And aggravating.”

Taulbee, who manages the fast-food restaurant, then pointed to the fountain drink machine a few feet away. A big paper sign covered most of the machine, saying “Out of Order”, while on the countertop - where a little cooler holding small plastic glasses of orange juice usually greets breakfast customers - one could find cans of Coca-Cola, Mello Yello, and Diet Coke inside the cooler. Taulbee shook her head and said, “I hope they get the water back on.”

After saying that the city’s new “radio read” water meters would be installed between February 15th and 25th, Miller quietly grinned and said, “I’ve learned a lot of things about water that I didn’t have any idea of. After the past eight or nine years, I can now carry on a conversation about the subject with engineers. And it’s come in handy this week. It’s been a long week.”