Greeneville, Tenn. (WDNews) — The Greeneville Water Commission is facing a major crisis after its intake structure was engulfed by the Nolichucky River late Friday night. The intake structure, which is responsible for pumping water from the river to the treatment plant, was completely submerged during the flood.
After water levels receded on Saturday, officials discovered that most of the equipment at the pumping station was unsalvageable. Though the treatment plant has a limited water supply, it is being quickly consumed.
At 2 p.m. on Saturday, the pumps feeding the distribution system were turned off, leaving only the water stored in tanks. Under normal conditions, this would last 24 hours.
Emergency pumps are expected to arrive on Sunday, but setting up the necessary piping to resume operations could take up to a week. While officials hope to begin pumping soon, they warn that water outages are inevitable.
Although flooding at the Nolichucky Dam raised concerns of failure on Friday, the dam held steady, and water levels started decreasing on Saturday.
