Southwest Columbia neighborhood experiences third boil water advisory in two weeks
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Thornbrook in southwest Columbia has experienced three boil water advisories in the past two weeks. One on June 16 for low water pressure, another on June 20 for a water main break and another that started Monday and has been extended to Wednesday at 9 a.m. for low water pressure.
But residents say the area has been plagued with water issues since 2016.
"What seems like a very superficial, you know, it's just people irrigating too much really speaks to the problems we've seen within water and light for years that nobody's holding anybody accountable for," said Julie Ryan, Thornbrook resident and co=founder of CoMo Safe Water Coalition.
Columbia's municipal utility has asked residents in the city's southwest area to observe a staggered irrigation schedule to prevent water pressure drops.
The request happened hours after the City of Columbia extended a boil water advisory prompted by overwatering for parts of a large southwest Columbia neighborhood Tuesday.
"Our guess is that there's a lot of, you know, irrigation in that area and we think a lot of the irrigation systems are coming on at the same time and using a lot of the water, which is causing the pressure to drop," said Matt Nestor with Columbia Water & Light.
Columbia Water & Light extended the boil water advisory for about 160 customers in Thornbrook until 9 a.m. Wednesday. The advisory extends one issued Monday morning because of high water demand.
The utility said Tuesday the extension was needed because of inconclusive testing of water samples. Affected customers would be notified by hang tags, the utility said.
Water and Light later posted on social media asking people living in Thornbrook and other southwest neighborhoods to observe a watering schedule.
We ask residents of southwest Columbia to observe the voluntary irrigation schedule. Attached is the schedule and more information on why the voluntary irrigation schedule is important.
— Columbia Water&Light (@CoMoWaterLight) June 27, 2023
For more information visit https://t.co/ArvOeynobs. Thank you for your participation. pic.twitter.com/WQvZKaB0Rn
The city has used a similar process before to stop pressure drops in that area.
A boil water advisory was put into place a week ago after a water main broke near Vawter School Road and Scott Boulevard. That advisory had expired when Monday's new advisory was issued.
In a tweet, Columbia Water & Light said 158 customers were affected. The advisory is listed on Columbia Water and Light's outage map
Those under the advisory should boil water for 3 minutes before cooking or drinking; not consume ice from an ice maker; disinfect dishes and food contact surfaces by immersing them for a minute in clean tap water with a teaspoon of unscented bleach per gallon of water.
The Thornbrook subdivision has a history of water issues. ABC 17 News documented several boil water advisories issued for the area dating back to 2016.
"I think the biggest frustration is that the city is known about this for seven going on seven years," Ryan said.
Last year, Columbia Water & Light shared that water pressure was low in the area, leading to a precautionary boil water advisory. In 2017, the city said residents in the southwest part of Columbia should preserve water to avoid a boil water advisory. In 2016, Thornbrook and Steeplechase were under boil water advisories for low water pressure.
Each of these advisories through the years was during the summer. Mid-Missouri is currently in a state of extreme drought, creating more demand for thirsty lawns.
Since Thornbrook is on the edge of the city, and gets its water from the water tower all the way on Walnut street, the water has to travel through a lot of other neighborhoods first. The water tour next to the neighborhood belongs to Boone County.
"Thornbrook is like way out on the edge of our service territory," Nestor said. "So it takes a lot to get water out to that neighborhood in the first place. So it's kind of we've been having issues with that as far back as I know is 2016 maybe even longer than that."
