Water usage in Nashville is only slightly lower than usual, despite ongoing requests for conservation from city officials.
Metro Water chief Scott Potter has been urging people to cut water consumption by half ever since one of two water treatment facilities fell out of commission due to flooding. Even so, Potter says residents used 79 million gallons of water on Tuesday. That’s only 3 million gallons less than on the same day in 2009.
“I think it’s a combination of of anxiety and maybe a sense that the emergency has passed, and neither is really applicable. The anxiety is not necessary because the plant is operating well and we’re making really good water, and the emergency is still on us. We’re in the recovery phase, but when you see the river, it’s still up.”
Potter says the remaining treatment plant is running continuously at its full capacity to provide adequate service and keep from depleting reserves.
“I’d like to have an opportunity to back off a little bit on the plant to give it a chance to rest.”
Water reserves built back up overnight to 50%. They were down to 37% Tuesday evening.
Workers have removed the contaminated water from the flooded Harrington Plant. Potter says the damage is significant, but not as bad as he expected. He’s not sure how long it will take to return the plant to operation. Much of its equipment must be taken apart piece-by-piece for disinfection and repairs.
To reduce water usage, officials are urging Nashvillians to use only what is absolutely necessary. In practical terms, that primarily means hand washing, cooking, and “navy showers” (turning on water briefly to wet the body, then leaving it off while soaping up). Metro Health Director Bill Paul says it is safe to use “gray water” collected from hand washing or bathing when washing dishes. For those cleaning up flooded homes, he suggests people triage their belongings to determine what washing can be postponed. He says a container of water should be used rather than a hose when cleaning off items that must be attended to right away. As a rule of thumb, officials say that anything involving a hose should wait until the crisis has passed.
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