Onondaga County officials are optimistic that they can avoid water shortages in several communities affected by a serious failure of a water supply pipeline. The Onondaga County Water Authority credits conservation among people and businesses in the affected areas.
OCWA has also used emergency pumps to help retain water pressure and supply by diverting water from other parts of the system to help in Dewitt and Chittenango.
OCWA officials worried that without help from the community, a water shortage could reduce flows to a trickle out of faucets by this weekend. The affected areas include the towns of Dewitt, Pompey, Manlius, Sullivan, Lenox & Lincoln.
County Executive Ryan McMahon says the county has stockpiled 30-thousand cases of water that could be distributed if there are outages. He dispelled rumors that those would be distributed at the OnCenter. Rather, he noted they would hand out the bottled water at locations in the affected areas.
OCWA Executive Director Jeff Brown says they have been communicating with senior centers and medical facilities to make sure they have the water they need. He emphasized the continued need for conservation efforts. Brown praised actions so far, saying daily consumption in the areas has gone down from about 5 million gallons a day to around 3.5 million.
The repair of the 46-inch wide water supply pipe is expected to take about two weeks.
