MOSCOW MILLS, Mo. — The City of Moscow Mills is telling residents to conserve and boil water amid a water system failure that started Wednesday.
The city originally posted a water conservation order Wednesday morning, saying the city's water system was in "partial failure" because of the failure of "a couple pieces of equipment" at the Mette Road Water Tower. The city had ordered water conservation until 5 p.m. Friday evening, telling residents not to use water for unnecessary things like washing cars or watering grass.
At 6:18 p.m. Wednesday, Moscow Mills posted another update saying the water system was in full failure and residents would be without water "very soon," but water would be pumping by midnight, if the city could locate the proper parts.
Residents are under a boil order until noon Saturday.
The city posted a comment under the update post at 8:47 p.m., letting residents know that the problem was not completely repaired and water was flowing at very low pressure.
The comment explained the situation, saying that the Mette Road water tower had been empty for about two weeks because of scheduled maintenance on the tower. At the time of this maintenance, the city had been operating on only two towers to provide water to the city, while the Mette Road processing plant only pumped water. The tower was expected to be back up and running by the end of September.
The city went on to say that it was not expecting a water pump failure at the Mette Road plant during this maintenance, which is ultimately causing the issues.
"In preparation for the Mette Road maintenance, water pump replacements were ordered, damaged in the shipping process, and discovered upon arrival," the city said.
Moscow Mills ordered new replacement parts for the pump, but shipping was delayed.
"The city maintenance crews, water system engineers, and support vendors are working as diligently as possible," the post said.
Shortly before 9:15 Thursday morning, the city of Moscow Mills posted an update saying water pressure in the city is continuing to rise and the Mette Road Water Tower would be filled early next week. The post also said that the city was still waiting on replacement parts for the water pump.
Mayor Patrick Flannigan told 5 On Your Side he noticed downfalls with the water system six months ago.
He added that supply issues led to delays and problematic equipment.
“Some of this stuff is beginning to hit the end of its life cycle and we're addressing that,” Flannigan said.
About 4,000 people live in Moscow Mills and there is a lot of new housing being built.
We asked Flannigan if the city is ready for that future growth to which he responded there was more than enough water and sewer supply.
“At one time we had probably four times our needs in water and six times our needs in sewer,” he said.
Residents are still under a boil order until noon Saturday. The city also urged residents to continue conserving water as it works to resolve the water problems.
Moscow Mills said it does not have a water share agreement with any neighboring municipalities.
Lincoln County R-III Schools commented under the city's comment saying bottled water would be provided at William Cappel Elementary and Ninth Grade Center for drinking, on-site meal preparation and hand washing.
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