Water Restored In Jackson After Nearly A Week

Breaking Business Water Restored In Jackson After Nearly A Week Madeline Halpert Forbes Staff Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 5, 2022, 04:10pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Water pressure returned to normal in Jackson, Mississippi on Monday, according to officials , after at least 180,000 residents were forced to contend with several days of no clean tap water for drinking and flushing toilets in the city’s latest water system failure. Members of Progressive Morningstar Baptist Church direct people to get bottled water.

AFP via Getty Images Key Facts All Jackson residents should now have normal water pressure, the city said Monday, with Gov. Tate Reeves (R) adding there “may be more bad days in the future,” but residents “can trust that water will come out of the faucet” and that “toilets can be flushed. ” The announcement comes a week after Tate declared a state of emergency and told residents not to drink the water, which he said could be coming directly from the city’s reservoir, after the city’s long struggling water treatment system experienced issues following flooding around the Pearl River in Mississippi.

A boil-water notice is still in effect for residents—as it has been for the past month—until the city reports two rounds of clean samples, officials said. City staff as well as crews from Florida and Georgia helped to make fixes at the water treatment facility and to restore automated systems to help improve water quality, according to CBS News. Big Number At least $1 billion.

That’s how much Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba estimated it would cost to fix the city’s water distribution system, with billions more dollars needed to make larger systematic repairs. Mississippi will receive $429 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden last year to repair water systems over the next five years, but those funds could take many months to reach Jackson, according to NBC News. Key Background Jackson has experienced issues with its water system for years, leaving residents—more than 80 % of whom are Black or African American—frequently facing boil-water notices and occasional shut offs.

The system has been plagued by staffing shortages, old infrastructure and a lack of sufficient resources to invest in upgrades. The Environmental Protection Agency has cited the facility as an example of a longstanding environmental injustice in a historically marginalized community, according to the Post. Last week’s water cutoff came after a major pump at the city’s main water treatment facility was damaged, forcing the city to rely on back-up pumps.

Jackson residents were also forced to go without clean running water for a month during the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2021 after a winter storm caused the water system to fail. Crucial Quote “The residents of Jackson are worthy of a dependable system, and we look forward to a coalition of the willing who will join us in the fight to improve this system that’s been failing for decades,” Lumumba said at a press conference last week. Further Reading White then Black residents abandoned Jackson, propelling its water crisis (Washington Post) Water pressure restored in Jackson, Mississippi, governor and city officials say (CNN) Jackson’s water system may need billions in repairs.

Federal infrastructure funds aren’t a quick fix. (NBC News) 180,000 Residents Without Clean Running Water In Jackson As Governor Declares Emergency (Forbes) Check out my website . Send me a secure tip .

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