Early Monday morning, a line broke on Jacksonville’s west side, mixing sediment into the water line. Later that morning, another line broke at the Germania Springs pump house on Ala. Hwy. 21, elevating levels of fluoride in the water system.These two separate problems caused the city’s water supply to appear yellow or red and to taste strange, causing concern among residents and businesses.
Kitty Stone Elementary covered their drinking fountains and Jacksonville State University put signs on theirs asking students and staff not to drink from them. Jacksonville High School was not affected, since part of its water supply comes from a supply in Anniston.
That same supply was used, once the problems were found, to begin diluting the water, lowering the amounts of fluoride.
As required by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, water treatment plant employees spent the day on Monday testing fluoride levels in the water throughout Jacksonville.
Some of the tests showed levels as high as 20 parts per million, but the fluoride in the system never reached a dangerous level. ADEM and the City of Jacksonville warned parents that children under the age of nine may develop cosmetic discoloration on their permanent teeth, but, though some residents may experience poor taste in their water, it is safe to drink.
“We’ve been flushing all night long — flushing the fluoride out. I’ve been up all night and still working on it now,” said Chris Patterson of Jacksonville’s water treatment plant early Tuesday morning.
As of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, most of the water tanks throughout Jacksonville had been flushed and refilled with water containing the appropriate levels of fluoride, which is two milligrams per liter.
The only areas continuing to experience high fluoride levels were: Brownwood Subdivision (with the exception of Short and Grace), the east end of Mountain Street, Chimney Peak Road, Englewood, Mountain Brook, Mountain Laurel, Heritage Highlands and Dogwood Drive NE.
The city was working to flush this tank and refill it on Tuesday. They recommend residents of Jacksonville flush their water lines to remove any remaining water with high fluoride levels.
