TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. (WFTS) — Pinellas County Utilities employees are hard at work right now. Pinellas County Utilities Director Jeremy Waugh says a team of more than 100 continue to work to fix the many issues impacting access to water on the islands.
"We have more than 150 crew members here today working on just restoring the water, getting the pressures back up into the main transmission systems, and starting to restore individual businesses and account holders their water service," he said.
As we spoke to Waugh, the team worked just behind him to restore the water to a nearby gas station. Waugh explained the process for that particular repair.
"What you're going to see is a backflow preventer. It looks like a blue U or horseshoe that sits above the ground. Either during the storm or as they were clearing the road debris, this piece of equipment was knocked over, so it was lying flat on the ground. So our crews came and turned off the water so that we weren't just spraying water like you're seeing now. And then, we've created a new backflow preventer that you're going to see them reinstall. And when we're done with this fix, this business will have reestablished water," he said.
Water remains off mostly from John's Pass down south to Tierra Verde.
"We still are under boil water notice until we give the all clear through the water quality testing, but at least they'll have flowing water for wash downs and things like that," he reminded.
There are many important questions swirling around, but the two main ones are: when will water return, and will it be safe to consume?
"The drinking water system north of John's Pass on the barrier islands for Pinellas County Utilities Water System has been safe the whole time we've been under a boil water notice. South of John's pass specifically because we lost the water pressure and we couldn't guarantee positive pressure coming out of the pipes, we have retained or reestablished pressure in those southern barrier islands," he answered. "We are currently working on the water quality testing, so we're required to do two days of testing, and we're going to guarantee through that testing that all the water meets state and federal standards, as well as our own Pinellas County standards. The first set of testing has begun already today. The second set will be happening tomorrow. With any luck, we'll have water on here by the end of the week."
Waugh said this is a unique and tough project.
For example, the amount of sand has made finding some pipes difficult.
"The difficulty with the pipes being buried in sand is we don't always know where the where the valves are. We know on maps, and we know through historical workers where the valves are, but it's it's like a desert, and now you're going to try and dig a hole. Imagine digging a hole in two or three feet of sand, where you think the valve is, that the valve is two feet in one direction, the other direction your hole missed the valve," he explained.
Then there's all of the damage from the debris.
"The big impact we had, obviously, with the hurricane event, is that washed up the sand and all the debris that goes with the wave action; refrigerators and air conditioners, and it knocked over our equipment. So all the equipment that's above ground was impacted by debris that was hitting it, and as they knocked over the pipes, it caused lots and lots of damage to individual service lines," he said. "Our Gulf Beach Water Booster Station located in St. Pete Beach was also damaged. Electrical equipment was damaged by the saltwater. Or in the waves. So we lost one of our major booster pressure stations that helped provide water pressure to the beach areas."
As the days tick by, more and more businesses and homes are starting to see their power restored.
Linda Scillitani's business was one of the countless destroyed by the Hurricane. She said she lost everything.
"I was devastated. I have been in business in this area since 2005, and this is the first time that anything has happened," she said. "I love what I do, and it's devastating. Just broke my heart, and I'm trying to clean everything out and rebuild and start over."
Access to water, clean water, is pivotal in bouncing back.
"We do have water and power that was restored. I believe it was yesterday, so we were able to clean and dry things out and then start the recovery process," she said.
If you have any questions or concerns about your water service, visit disaster.pinellas.gov or call the Utilities Customer Service at (727) 464-4000.
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