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By Karen Graham
Feb 21, 2021

Environment

Tennessee is also struggling with broken water mains

Workers in Tennessee raced Sunday to fix water mains that failed in freezing temperatures, as the South carried on with efforts to recover from the winter weather that paralyzed parts of the nation.

Memphis - Memphis, Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) CEO J.T. Young told the Memphis City Council Saturday afternoon that the city's water system - if it were a hospital patient - would be in critical condition, but is improving, according to Commercial Appeal.
By Saturday, the utility's precautionary "boil water" advisory was approaching the 48-hour mark. The city-owned utility's water system has experienced hundreds of main and pipe breaks amid the deep freeze.
Memphis got about 10 inches of snow last week, along with the hard freeze experienced by other southern states, and with weather moderating and highs expected to be in the 50s, this should allow for significant melting of the snow and ice that accumulated on streets, sidewalks, and roofs.
The city can concentrate on the water problem
The freezing weather affected the aged pumping stations and this led to low water pressure throughout the city. The utility says that fixing the pipe and main breaks that are occurring as the city thaws out will help further.
The boil advisory only applies to Memphis residents and some in Shelby County. Bartlett, Collierville, and Germantown, which have separate water systems, have sent MLGW water to help keep the system's pressure up.
About 260,000 homes and businesses were under the advisory. Hospitals and nursing homes switched to bottled water. The Tennessee National Guard was supplying St. Francis Hospital with water.
Nearby Baptist Memorial Hospital has taken on some of St. Francis’ patients, particularly those who need dialysis, said Dr. Jeff Wright, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Baptist. That hospital has a water purification system for dialysis and has water reserves for tasks such as cooking and bathing patients, he said, reports the Associated Press.