MEMPHIS
42°
Friday
Clear Sky
Statement from the President
December 28, 2022
December 28, 2022 – 6 p.m.
MLGW customers and partners,
By now, most of you already know the good news: our water system is well on its way to full recovery. For most of our system, customers are enjoying normal pressure and water availability. I anticipate that by the morning all our customers should be restored to normal pressures.
I know that some customers are still without water because of water line breaks in their homes or in their businesses. We stand ready to help restart your water service after those repairs have been made. Further, since our boil water advisory remains in effect, we will again be passing out water to customers in need. Thursday, December 29 we will be located at:
The final step in returning to normal is lifting the boil water advisory, which I am pushing to do as soon as possible. Just a few words on how the process works. First, water must reach full operating pressure all along the distribution system. Second, we must take samples of the water from more than 36 locations around the service area. Next, we take these samples to our water laboratory where we test for several chemical contaminants and incubate the samples for a minimum of 18 hours to see if any biological contaminants exist. If contaminants are present, we must resample and retest (including another 18 hours of incubation). If contaminants are not present, we forward our results to the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) with our request to lift the boil water advisory. Late this afternoon, we received the very first of our samples in the lab, and I expect others to come in over the course of the evening as pressures reach normal levels.
Logically the question is whether I will wait to lift across the county all at once, or if I will do areas at a time? I intend to request lifting the ban wherever and whenever I can to try and get the most customers online as early in the process possible. Stay tuned.
If all goes well, I will cease daily press briefings and this evening update until such time as conditions warrant.
Thanks for hanging in there and for helping friends and neighbors get through what has been a rough week for many.
Sincerely,
Doug McGowen
MLGW, President & CEO
MLGW customers and partners,
By now, most of you already know the good news: our water system is well on its way to full recovery. For most of our system, customers are enjoying normal pressure and water availability. I anticipate that by the morning all our customers should be restored to normal pressures.
I know that some customers are still without water because of water line breaks in their homes or in their businesses. We stand ready to help restart your water service after those repairs have been made. Further, since our boil water advisory remains in effect, we will again be passing out water to customers in need. Thursday, December 29 we will be located at:
- New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, 2237 S Parkway E
- Southwest Community College - Whitehaven, 1234 Finley Rd
- Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 7289 Stage Rd
The final step in returning to normal is lifting the boil water advisory, which I am pushing to do as soon as possible. Just a few words on how the process works. First, water must reach full operating pressure all along the distribution system. Second, we must take samples of the water from more than 36 locations around the service area. Next, we take these samples to our water laboratory where we test for several chemical contaminants and incubate the samples for a minimum of 18 hours to see if any biological contaminants exist. If contaminants are present, we must resample and retest (including another 18 hours of incubation). If contaminants are not present, we forward our results to the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) with our request to lift the boil water advisory. Late this afternoon, we received the very first of our samples in the lab, and I expect others to come in over the course of the evening as pressures reach normal levels.
Logically the question is whether I will wait to lift across the county all at once, or if I will do areas at a time? I intend to request lifting the ban wherever and whenever I can to try and get the most customers online as early in the process possible. Stay tuned.
If all goes well, I will cease daily press briefings and this evening update until such time as conditions warrant.
Thanks for hanging in there and for helping friends and neighbors get through what has been a rough week for many.
Sincerely,
Doug McGowen
MLGW, President & CEO
MLGW is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving more than 440,000 customers in Memphis and Shelby County.
Memphis, TN 38103