A city resident who complained to the Eupora Board of Aldermen last week about oily water at his house requested a discount on his bill.
Rob Gary addressed the board during its April 1 meeting about oil being in his water in mid-March. He said this was the worst he had ever seen the water so discolored.
Mayor Lamar Dumas said the issue occurred when the Water Department flushed water lines. A March 14 post on the city’s Facebook page reads, “Tomorrow and possibly the first part of next week the city will be flushing water lines. If you experience dirty water during these times, this may be the cause.”
Flushing a water system is a preventive maintenance activity that removes sediment from the lines and keeps the system “refreshed.”
Dumas said the city did not think the water would be so oily when it flushed the lines. Water Superintendent Joel Williamson told Gary he understood his complaint about the water but that it has been tested and is safe to drink.
“During the flushing program you’re going to have dirty water because the pumps are old,” he said. “It’s something you can’t avoid.”
The water in question came from the city well at Tomnolen, according to the discussion. The well has a turbine pump that uses a vegetable oil for lubrication. Only one city well has a submersible pump, which uses no oil. It was purchased out of water reserves in 2017 for Well No. 1 because its turbine pump wasn’t working.
Gary asked what could be done to prevent this from happening again and if the other turbine pumps could be updated. Dumas said the city is going to try to address the issue of oil getting in the water as soon as possible.
“We will try our best not to have that happen again,” he told Gary, adding that the city is trying to replace old pipes and acquire additional submersible pumps. However, he said the city did not have the funds to do so at this time.
Gary also requested a discount on his water bill, stating he did not think he should be responsible for paying it because of the oil in his water.
“It’s illegal for us to give away water,” Jerry Gary (at-large) responded.
Hugh Gibson (Ward 3) then asked board attorney Jacqueline Meek to research whether or not the city could provide a $5 discount to all water customers once a year, apparently to cover such situations as dirty water. Dumas told Rob Gary the board would have a special-called meeting to address that issue and hear Meek’s findings.
Later in the meeting during department head reports, Alderman Gary asked Williamson and Public Works Director Mike McCain to do a better job of flushing lines on a regular basis.
“As soon as we do another submersible pump, that ought to help,” Johnson said.
