‘We’re not out of the woods yet’: Greenfield works to restore water after lightning strike
GREENFIELD, Iowa —
UPDATE: As of Thursday morning, residents are no longer being asked to conserve water.
The original story is below.
Issues at the water treatment plant in Greenfield have prompted the city to close some government buildings and schools on Wednesday.
According to Greenfield Municipal Utilities, the water treatment plant began experiencing problems in the early morning hours of Wednesday. Officials say the water currently in the system is safe, but the city could run out of treated water Wednesday.
"While we would like to hope that we will not reach that critical point, we do feel it is important to share the possibility with our customers as we ask for immediate water conservation," Greenfield Municipal Utilities announced."We are asking all customers to begin water conservation measures immediately."
Stephanie Danly, a longtime Greenfield resident, told her children not to shower until Wednesday night as the community worked to conserve water.
"I just decided to tell the kids not to shower till tonight and to save the water and use it as little as possible," Danly said.
While the restrictions are inconvenient, Danly said her family understands the need to limit its water use.
"It’s important just so we don’t run out," she said. "If we run into an emergency and someone does need to use it, they do have it available."
Danly said Greenfield residents have a history of supporting one another, including after tornadoes struck the community more than two years ago.
"We definitely help our neighbors and try to save anything possible to keep the community going and working," she said.
Jeremy Cooper, the Adair and Guthrie County emergency management coordinator, said the Greenfield water treatment plant stopped producing clean water early Wednesday.
Officials believe lightning from overnight storms is the root of the problem.
"It appears to be all circuit board damage," Cooper said.
"We believe that it was struck by lightning in the overnight storms that were moving through," Cooper said. The treatment plant serves water customers across Adair County, not only those who live in Greenfield.
Crews began refilling the water tower Wednesday afternoon, but Cooper cautioned that restoring service was only the first step.
"We’re not out of the woods yet, so we still have a little bit of work to do here," he said. "We’ve got to build those reserves back up because we’ve still got storms coming the rest of this week."
The call to conserve water will likely continue through Thursday.