On Monday, the Garretson Water Tower was emptied for a routine inspection and an attempt to fix a leak that had developed, and was scheduled to be bypassed for a short period of time by Minnehaha Rural Water to prevent any loss of service.
However, in a perfect storm of events, at the same time a water main was hit by the construction company working on 4th Street, according to City Finance Director Paetyn Dreckman. This prevented the bypass from occurring as the construction company needed time to fix the break.
"The only way to repair it and isolate that area was to shut down the feed to town," wrote Public Works Supervisor Jordan Doane on Garretson Living. "This is our last resort when shutting valves off because of the headache it causes."
The result was an unexpected loss of water citywide, and although the water was turned back on mid-afternoon, the empty water tower meant there was not enough pressure built to bring the water to households across town.
As of 6:00 pm Monday, the city was still asking for patience as pressure re-built through the system. Some areas of town were reporting better pressure while others were at a trickle.
The bypass remained in place overnight and into Tuesday as the tower's leak was patched with a temporary fix, but more will be needed. At the most recent city council meeting, Doane had stated the tower was running approximately 20 feet lower than normal, which was already affecting water pressures around town. Due to the age of the tower, a game plan is needed for long-term sustainability.
"Our entire system is gravity-fed," said Mayor Bruce Brown. "With the leak, our tower was already underperforming."
"The tower is old and will need a liner," Doane wrote on Garretson Living.
However, Mayor Brown was pleased with how well everyone worked together to fix the issue. Employees with Minnehaha Rural Water, First Rate Excavate, and the City of Garretson all dropped everything to try and get everything back online as fast as possible.
