Chatham battles water troubles

Danville Register & Bee
Published: May 15, 2008

Dirt and contamination in water coming into Chatham’s water plant prompted a shutdown of the plant and several businesses Monday afternoon. The town’s manager also called on residents to conserve water.

On Wednesday night, Chatham had 875,000 gallons of available water and was pumping from 450 to 500 gallons per minute, compared to the usual 1,000 gallons per minute, Chatham Town Manager Mike Jones said. He is still asking residents and the Pittsylvania County Jail and Green Rock Correctional Center to conserve water.

Also, the water is being tested hourly, with negative results, Jones said. He said he has called the State Department of Environmental Quality to investigate watershed conditions. 

“We still don’t know what’s causing these negative readings,” Jones said.

The problem resulted after last Thursday night’s heavy rains left an excess amount of water in Cherrystone Creek, dredging up mud, leaves, fertilizer run-off, cow manure and other contaminants, Jones said. Chatham’s watershed is fed by Cherrystone Creek, which includes Cherrystone Lake and Roaring Fork Creek, Jones said.

Jones said mud had filled up three settling basins at the plant.

“It looked like … chocolate milk,” he said.

The town is “slowly gaining ground,” Jones added.

The town’s water troubles began Sunday evening when high levels of turbidity, or dirt, made it difficult for the town’s plant to filter and

produce water and refill its water tanks. Water pressure decreased and Jones put the plant on 24-hour operation to clean the filters, he said.

Jones also made his first request for residents to conserve water.

However, the problem returned later Monday when contaminants were spotted, prompting Jones and other officials to shutter the plant to clean out the sludge-filled basins and filter out sediment and contamination. Jones said the volume of mud, leaves, fertilizer run-off, cow manure and other contamination was far above normal levels.

During the shutdown, the town closed two Laundromats and two car washes to restrict non-essential water use. Jones and other officials also asked the jail and prison to cut back their water use.

“We’re making sure we’re balancing supply and demand,” Jones said. “We have a small staff and they have done tremendous work.”

At the county jail in Chatham, Sheriff Mike Taylor said available daily shower periods for prisoners were reduced, as well as individual shower times.

Officials also brought in extra bottled water for prisoners and employees and for cooking to save town water, Taylor said. In addition, restrictions were placed on washing deputies’ cars.

Jim Davis, director of emergency services for the county, said the water problem has not yet impacted fire or rescue efforts.

However, he said three fire stations, instead of the normal two, would be sent to a structure fire during the water situation due to lowered pressure.

Jones blamed the prolonged drought and sudden onslaught of heavy rain for the excessive mud and other debris in the water. The area had lacked the steady, moderate rains to keep streambeds relatively clean, he said.

Jones said chances that the incident would happen again are small, unless another drought enables the buildup of excess sediment.

“I won’t say we’re out of the woods yet,” he said. “This could’ve been a real crisis.”