{"id":2486,"date":"2011-01-22T20:18:23","date_gmt":"2011-01-23T01:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/01\/reporting-on-valdosta-without-water.html"},"modified":"2011-01-22T20:18:23","modified_gmt":"2011-01-23T01:18:23","slug":"reporting-on-valdosta-without-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/01\/reporting-on-valdosta-without-water.html","title":{"rendered":"Reporting on Valdosta without water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/a>\nThe talk of the town (and apparently all of south Georgia today) is the Lowndes County seat\nlost water.\nBoth the Valdosta’s city government web pages (VLD) and the newspaper (VDT)\nhave been reporting\nonline, but it’s hard to tell exactly when, since both have\nonly datestamps, not timestamps.\nWhat does “in the next hour” mean when you don’t know in what\nhour the notice was posted?\nTime notations appropriate for paper media issued once a day\naren’t quite adequate for online posts multiple times a day.\n

\nWCTV does include timestamps, and Dontaye Carter did some reporting\n\nfor her story posted 6:48 PM:<\/a>\n\n\n

\nThe Valdosta Utilities Department says around 12:30 Saturday morning an\nequipment failure stopped power from reaching the plant, which stopped\nthe treatment of water.\n

\nThe city issued a Boil Water Advisory shortly after.\n<\/blockquote>\nThat gives approximate dates for two of the VLD items below.\nThe VSU Spectator (VSU) provides dated updates in one of its stories,\nas it happens the first one it posted, but not on the main articles.\nThe correct order seems to be\nVLD, VLD, VSU, VDT, VLD, VDT, VSU, VSU, VLD, VDT,\nand WALB TV chimed in at the end, with a timestamp.\n

\nI give the VDT points for thinking to ask South Georgia Medical Center,\nVSU gets kudos for informing its audience about the issues most directly\naffecting them, and the TV stations get credit for asking a variety\nof citizens.\nThe City of Valdosta gets praise for reporting rapidly at the outset,\nand for holding a press conference at the end of the day,\nalthough not so much for having their water’s power fail.\nVLD, VDT, and VSU might think about adding timestamps to their articles.\n-jsq\n

\n

VLD: \nCity Water Services Affected by Power Failure<\/a><\/H3>\nDue to a power failure at the City of Valdosta Water Treatment Plant on\nGuest Road, all city water customers are currently without water services\nuntil further notice. Georgia Power is working with local contractors at\nthe plant site to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. Updates\nwill be posted to the City of Valdosta website at www.valdostacity.com\nCitizens are encouraged NOT to call 9-1-1 about this situation unless they\nhave an emergency, but instead may call the city\u2019s Utilities Department\nto receive additional information and updates at (229) 259-3592.\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n

VLD: \nCity of Valdosta Issues Boil Water Advisory<\/a><\/H3>\nA Boil Water Advisory is in effect for all City of Valdosta water customers.\n

\nResidents are asked to avoid the use of any city water at this time. Any\nwater that is currently left in the lines or that becomes available\nonce water services are restored, should be boiled first before\nuse. Residents are advised to bring water to a boil for at least one\nminute, and cool before using, or use bottled water. Water should be\nboiled for uses such as drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing\ndishes and food preparation. Boiling the water kills bacteria and other\npotential organisms.\n

\nThis Boil Water Advisory is in effect until further notice.\n

\nCrews are working diligently to restore water services as quickly as\npossible. Updates will continue to be posted to the City of Valdosta\nwebsite at www.valdostacity.com, or citizens may call the city\u2019s\nUtilities Department to receive additional information and updates at\n(229) 259-3592.\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VSU: \nCity of Valdosta issues Boil Water Advisory<\/a><\/H3>\nAfter a power failure in the City of Valdosta Water Treatment plant,\nwater from the City of Valdosta will be unavailable until further notice,\naccording to the Valdosta city website.\n

\nOnce water is working again or if water is left in the pipes, it is\nadvised that the water is boiled for at least one minute before use.\n

\nUsing bottled water or boiling water is necessary for drinking, making\nice, washing dishes, brushing teeth or similar activities, according to\nthe website.\n

\n*UPDATE 1 p.m: \u201cThe city has connected generators to the well,\nso citizens should begin noticing water pressure return in the next\nhour,\u201d according to the website.\n

\nHowever, water may appeared discolored due to water treatments being\nused in repairs. Citizens are still encouraged to boil water for the\nnext few days or until further notice.\n

\nFor on campus residents, bottled water is being delivered to each\nresidence hall. There is also clean drinking water available at food\nservice locations, according to the VSU news website.\n

\n*UPDATE 1:05 p.m.: Both Walmarts are out of larger packs of water. Publix\nand Winn Dixie have gallon drinking water and Target also has\nwater. Dollar Tree is out of water.\n

\n*UPDATE 2:24 p.m.: The Union Food Dining Services are closed until\nfurther notice on campus.\n

\nCall the city\u2019s Utilities Department at 259-3592 for updates or check\nwww.valdostacity.com or www.valdosta.edu.\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VDT: \nWater outage affecting SGMC<\/a><\/H3>\nSouth Georgia Medical Center is open and functioning, but according to\nCEO James McGahee, “We’ve got a a mess on our hands.” McGahee said\nthe hospital is fine, still accepting patients through the Emergency\nDepartment and can perform emergency procedures, but elective surgeries\nhave been impacted.\n

\n…\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VLD: Update of City Water Services<\/a><\/H3>\nThe City of Valdosta is utilizing all resources to restore city water\nservices as quickly as possible. The city has connected generators to\nthe well, so citizens should begin noticing water pressure return in\nthe next hour.\n

\nWhen water pressure returns, citizens may notice some discoloration,\nair, and a sulfite odor in the water. This is to be expected, due to\nthe treatment plant being down for several hours. Crews are working with\na manufacturer representative for the plant equipment to determine the\nproblem and help expedite the correction.\n

\nHowever, the city issued a Boil Water Advisory this morning that\nwill remain in effect for the next couple of days or until further\nnotice. Residents are advised to bring water to a boil for at least\none minute, and cool before using, or use bottled water. Water should\nbe boiled for uses such as drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, food\npreparation, and any other consumption. Boiling the water kills bacteria\nand other potential organisms.\n

\nCitizens should make sure all faucets in their home are completely turned\noff when the water services are restored to avoid any flooding.\n

\nUpdates will continue to be posted to the City of Valdosta website\nat www.valdostacity.com, or citizens may call the city\u2019s Utilities\nDepartment to receive additional information and updates at (229)\n259-3592.\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VDT: \nCity issues statement on water outage<\/a><\/H3>\nThe City of Valdosta is utilizing all resources to restore city water\nservices as quickly as possible. The city has connected generators to\nthe well, so citizens should begin noticing water pressure return in\nthe next hour.\n

\n…\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VSU: \nVSU Update on Drinking Water<\/a><\/H3>\nVALDOSTA — Drinking water is available at each of the Valdosta State\nUniversity food service locations. VSU is expected to have bottled water\ndelivered to residence halls by early afternoon.\n

\nOnce water service has been restored the City of Valdosta has advised\nthat residence continue to boil all drinking water (for at least one\nminute) until further notice.\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VSU: \nUpdate of City Water Services from City of Valdosta Web Site<\/a><\/H3>\nThe City of Valdosta is utilizing all resources to restore city water\nservices as quickly as possible. The city has connected generators to\nthe well, so citizens should begin noticing water pressure return in\nthe next hour.\n

\n…\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VLD: \nCity Water Services Fully Restored<\/a><\/H3>\nThe City of Valdosta Water Treatment Plant is operating again, and water\nservices have been fully restored to city water customers. The loss of\npower to the plant on Jan. 22 has been resolved by the installation of\na temporary bypass line. Water pressure throughout the city has returned\nto normal levels.\n

\nCitizens now have adequate water in their homes and facilities for\ntheir regular water uses, such as for showers, bathrooms, etc. However,\ndue to state regulations concerning water treatment, the city is urging\ncitizens to continue to adhere to the Boil Water Advisory over the next\ncouple of days or until further notice. Residents are still advised to\nbring tap water to a boil for at least one minute, and cool before using,\nor use bottled water. Water should be boiled for uses such as drinking,\nmaking ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation, as\nboiling the water kills bacteria and other potential organisms.\n

\nThe Boil Water Advisory will remain in effect until further notice.\n

\nFor updates or more information visit the City of Valdosta’s web site\nat www.valdostacity.com or tune into Mediacom Channel 17. Citizens are\nencouraged to sign up for e-news at www.valdostacity.com\/publicinformation\nto receive updates about this issue or other city news.\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

VDT: \nCity water services fully restored; boil water advisory still in effect<\/a><\/H3>\nThe City of Valdosta Water Treatment Plant is operating again, and water\nservices have been fully restored to city water customers, according\nto a City of Valdosta press release. The loss of power to the plant on\nJan. 22 has been resolved by the installation of a temporary bypass line.\nWater pressure throughout the city has returned to normal levels.\n

\n…\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

WALB: \nWater back in service, customers still urged to boil water<\/a><\/H3>\nPosted: Jan 22, 2011 6:55 PM Updated: Jan 22, 2011 7:10 PM\n
\nBy Jade Bulecza\n

\nVALDOSTA, GA (WALB) \u2013 A boil water advisory is in effect for all city\nwater customers and officials say this could be case for the next couple\nof days.\n

\n…\n

\nAt a press conference, officials said the power outage happened around\n12:30 Saturday morning. Generators were online, but they believe a switch\ngear prevented the plant from powering back up.\n

\nThe power has now been restored to the plant with a temporary bypass\nline. “We have two high service pumps and low service pumps that are\nstarting to gear up right now that will start increasing pressure through\nthe system it will gradually rise through the night,” said Henry Hicks,\nthe Valdosta utilities director. “We have two more emergency generators\nand wells that will be installed and turned on momentarily that will also\ngive us the raw water coming in the plant to pump out through the system.”\n

\nCity officials says water has been fully restored to its customers.\n

\n…\n

\nEven the hospital isn’t allowing visitors because of sanitation issues\nand to keep patients safe.\n

\n“We have allowed visitation under emergency type situations but we do\nacknowldege we have turned away a lot visitors we apoligize for the\ninconvenience but we ask everyone to continue to cooperate with us,”\nsaid Ken Kiser, the South Georgia Medical Center assistant adminstrator\nfor patient care services.\n

\nValdosta State University issued a statement on it’s web site saying\ndrinking water is available at the food service locations. The college\nplans to had bottled water delivered the residence halls.\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The talk of the town (and apparently all of south Georgia today) is the Lowndes County seat lost water. Both the Valdosta’s city government web pages (VLD) and the newspaper (VDT) have been reporting online, but it’s hard to tell exactly when, since both have only datestamps, not timestamps. What does “in the next hour” […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[733,133,134,204,55,177],"tags":[8701,7,8799,3596,6,2900,1175,8742,8743,8752,8727,8748],"class_list":["post-2486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-vdt","category-vsu","category-walb","category-water","category-wctv","tag-georgia","tag-lowndes-county","tag-media","tag-spectator","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-daily-times","tag-valdosta-state-university","tag-vdt","tag-vsu","tag-walb","tag-water","tag-wctv"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-E6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}