JXN Water issued the following updates on the water system.
(#1) JXN
Water has determined that the previously known low pressure/no water is
impacting approximately 12,000 customers of the JXN Water system in the
following zip codes:
- 39209 - West Jackson along the 49 corridor
- 39204 - West/Central Jackson along 49 corridor to Pearl River and south on east side of 55 between 55 and the Pearl River
- 39212 - South Jackson
- 39272 - South Jackson
-
39170 - South Jackson
Precautionary boil water notices have been issued for
these areas and will remain in effect until lifted by JXN Water. JXN Water will continue to release updates throughout
the day.
Please do not call the call center to report low pressure or for billing issues. The call center is currently experiencing high call volumes. Please leave lines open for customers reporting active water leaks. This will assist us with restoring pressure as quickly as possible.
(#2) As
anticipated, JXN Water had significant pipe breaks during the day
yesterday because of the thawing, frozen ground causing the ground to
expand and putting pressure on buried pipes. The extended deep freeze
and record low temperatures were a challenge,
according to JXN Water leadership.
“By
late yesterday afternoon the water demand had risen to 70 million
gallons per day, 40 percent more than a typical day. The high demand
appears to have been a combination of pipe breaks in the Jackson Water
system and leaks from private plumbing systems throughout the service
area,” said
Ted Henifin, JXN Water Interim Third Party Manager.
JXN
Water began seeing isolated pressure issues last night. The issues
became more widespread overnight as the result of what JXN Water
believes was a deliberate misinformation campaign on social media that
claimed JXN Water was going to shut the water plants off at some point
late last night and encouraged people to prepare
by filling bathtubs and jugs. People acted on that social media post by
filling their tubs. This caused demand to spike up beyond a level JXN
Water could support given the significant demand during the day
yesterday.
The
water treatment plants operated continuously through the night (as
they do every night) yet have not been able to recover the water lost
yesterday. As a result, many customers are waking up to low pressure
and/or no water. JXN Water is working to define which areas of the city
should be placed under a precautionary boil water
notice. Those notices will be issued for any area where the system
pressure went below 20 psi. At this point, customers with very low water
pressure or no water, should assume they need to boil their water
before drinking it until further notice.
“JXN
Water is working hard to restore service to everyone, but it may
take up to a day or two to get the system back to pre-storm conditions.
We need everyone to help by minimizing water use for the next 24 hours
(for those that have water and those that get it back in the coming
hours) until we can get water to everyone,” said
Henifin.
Since the call center is aware of this issue, customers should also take caution to not overwhelm customer service with frequent calling about no water or low pressure. Leak reports are still being taken.
Update (10:20 AM): JXN Water Manager Ted Henefin held a press conference this morning on the state of Jackson's water system. Highlights of his briefing are:
* The water system performed very well during the coldest parts of the freeze. The plants worked very well as efforts to winterize the plants paid off. However, Mr. Henefin said pipe breaks are expected as the ground thaws.
* Some areas in west and south Jackson have low pressure. "It will take hours, or a day or so to restore pressure," said Mr. Henifin.
* Mr. Henifin said there was s deliberate social meta attack to encourage people to fill their tubs because they were going to shut the plants off. There was no problem with the plants except they were unable to keep up with the increased demand. The little bit of extra demand stressed the system so it could no longer maintain the same pressure.
Law enforcement agencies are working with Mr. Henifin to determine the source of the social media information and its intent. He said the misinformation went along the lines of "I heard from a JNX Water employee the plants would shut down for three or four hours tonight. Just to be sure, I'm going to fill my tub."
The JXN Water Receiver said the misinformation was a well-crafted message. The timing made it suspect as it happened after JXN Water told customers they could shut off their dripping faucets. The misinformation took place when the system was already stressed. It was similar in nature to the fire hydrant sabotage that ook place last year when fire hydrants were opened in strategic locations to maximize the loss of water pressure.
"If 25,000 residents fill bathtubs in a few hours, that would be equivalent to 9 million gallons in water production. The system was already producing 20% more water than usual.
33 comments:
No one to blame here, unless you blame past elected officials for decades of neglect. Fortunately whether you like Henifin or not he is working towards improving the system.
It took a long time to get here and it is going to take time to make things better.
I think Henifin and crews, along with all the folks at the water plants and the ones fixing the pipes, are to be commended. Extraordinary work. I wish we had a way to thank every single one of them.
Are they serious!!! Freezing and thawing ground!!! Who makes this stuff up???
You have to admit Henefin is the right person for the job. In my opinion he has done a great job so far. Decades of not performing maintenance reared its ugly head and has come back to bite.
9:39 the problem with that excuse is the can keeps getting kicked down the road by the current elected officials. Okay, so it was a result of many decades of neglect - so what now? Instead of fixing these never-ending pipe breaks they should be digging up major streets and replacing the century-old water lines. Rome wasn't built in day, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. They could have the mains replaced in two years, and then they could proceed to the smaller lines. The system could be all but renewed in 10 years if they committed to doing it.
With all of the ridiculous antics he has to put up with from certain City officials and those associated with them, it's honestly a miracle Ted Henifin didn't fulfill his one-year commitment to manage our water system and then say good riddance! Glad he is calling out the misinformation campaign and attempting to get to the bottom of it. Will be quite interesting if/when they determine where it originated!
I thought only republicans put out disinformation. Not many in Jackson!
How about some links to the misinformation pages?
There is a "sneaking suspicion" of a group of people running around town trying to sabotage the water system and the work of JXN Water. All accounts point back to Rukia and her folks. Pre freeze, they were opening up fire hydrants in strategic locations to drop the pressure. I see this as the same thing.
The reality is that Henifin is working in a meat locker full of steaks and the jackals are constantly at the door.
The smell of raw meat (in this case millions of dollars) will make the blind see and cause the hungry to eat their own just to get at it.
I hope the federal judge will consider assigning federal marshals to protect Henefin, his turf and his efforts. You can put them in place now or call them in after the jackals do some real damage.
The statement about "if we can figure out who it is" is such a copout statement. Considering the person has now deleted the facebook post (probably due to knowing they were catching heat about it) and their last name and family member info is plastered everywhere online, it shouldn't be too hard to have a chat with this person. From there it is connecting the dots back to who they know who supposedly told them it was shutting down.
Big question is going to be what law enforcement is looking into this because if it is JPD or HCSO we aren't going to see any info or results from those investigators.
Just saw a hydrant running full blast on Livingston Rd behind the new car staging yard.
I wouldn't call Henifin rousing success. When you compare Henifin to to doofuses Lumumba hires, ole Teddy looks great.
Compare Henifin to outside people doing comparable work, Ted's star doesn't shine as brightly.
9 million gallons in bathtubs! Don’t let them drain all at one time! Will overwhelm sewer system!!! Who is advising Ted???
12:19 I would love to see the long list of qualified people lining up and knocking at the door to move to Jackson, MS and deal with Lumumba, his minions, and his shit show....literally.
I saw the interview on WAPT where Ted said he was "dumbfounded" as to why someone want the water system to fail. You would think he would have learned by now.
I hate lies and misinformation. They cause real harm to real people. Good for Mr. Henifin for speaking up and treating it seriously. And good for local community leaders and news media for blasting this info out. These are the people we all need to hear from.
It’s almost like “someone” is trying to manufacture a crisis to justify transferring control of JXN Water (and the millions in federal aid it received) back to the mayor.
Now who would do a thing like that?
I'd be just fine with renaming Jackson after Henifin. He'd probably hate it, but oh well. A few statues would not be remiss, either. That man is working it on all fronts. The other thing I love about him? He really seems to give a damn.
@11:59 AM, if you saw a fire hydrant running, or if anyone sees water running, call it in to the new water number. They are doing a fantastic job of getting crews on site and fixing issues.
“ I'd be just fine with renaming Jackson after Henifin. He'd probably hate it, but oh well. A few statues would not be remiss, either. That man is working it on all fronts. The other thing I love about him? He really seems to give a damn.
January 18, 2024 at 1:35 PM”
——————————————-
What’s going to happen the day after the feds stop paying him to babysit the city?
Henifin turned over as many of the social media posts he has seen to law enforcement to identify the source of the malicious act. "Henifin said he's seen several versions of social media posts that make him think the campaign was deliberate....Henifin believes it was an extreme, well-crafted and deliberate attempt to get people to unnecessarily use water by filling tubs. He said the timing was suspect."
Good job. I hope he turned it over to Capitol Police.
2:24 PM: I guess we'll just have to kidnap him. Maybe bribe him with pound cakes and cornbread? I'm open to any ideas.
12:19, please elaborate. I’m guessing you think Saban, Elvis, and Tom Brady are mediocre as well?
Run a few business officer name searches on the MS Sec of State website and there might be a couple of last names that happen to pop up in businesses several times.
Just left Pleasant Ave behind Galloway Elementary School where a very old water main burst due to freezing & sifting soil. Contractors were on the job fixing it & will be repaired by 5pm. Amazing the organization that Mr. Henifin has put together & how quickly JX Water responds. I am appalled that there are people working against JX Water & the citizens of Jackson.
The saboteurs have been at it since the day Governor Reeves announced the state takeover. Ever since the federal cavalry came to our rescue, they’ve just doubled down, redoubled, and tripled their efforts. It’s a miracle that Mr. Henefin has stuck it out. I hope he finds some measure of consolation in having Judge Wingate and the vast majority of the citizenry on his side. The saboteurs are grifters and fools. No decent, rational person thinks for one minute that the current city government could manage water distribution for 5 minutes. JXN Water and Ted Henifin are our last and only hope. And that is frightening. I’d feel a lot better if I knew the FBI was leading a forensic investigation into the sources of sabotage and disinformation. It would take that level of gravitas to shut these motherf’ers down.
What was the sabotage?
I can't stand it, I know you planned it
I'm gonna set it straight, this Watergate
I can't stand rocking when I'm in here
'Cause your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear
So while you sit back and wonder why
I got this fucking thorn in my side
Oh my God, it's a mirage
I'm tellin' y'all, it's a sabotage
So, so, so, so listen up 'cause you can't say nothin'
You'll shut me down with a push of your button?
But you, I'm out and I'm gone
I'll tell you now, I keep it on and on
'Cause what you see you might not get
And we can bet, so don't you get souped yet
You're scheming on a thing that's a mirage
I'm trying to tell you now, it's sabotage
Why
Our backs are now against the wall?
Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage
Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage
Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage
Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage
I can't stand it, I know you planned it
I'm gonna set it straight, this Watergate
Lord, I can't stand rockin' when I'm in this place
Because I feel disgrace because you're all in my face
But make no mistakes and switch up my channel
I'm Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle
What could it be? It's a mirage
You're scheming on a thing, that's sabotage
Anyone else think if the mayor tries to be a whistleblower about the water troubles it won't work as well for him as it did for Phil?
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate signed off on a message from JXN Water announcing the utility was working with law enforcement to track down the source of what they say was a deliberate misinformation campaign.
The United States Attorney’s Office will look into the matter and make that determination, according to Navketan Aujla, a law clerk for Judge Wingate, who was authorized to answer by the judge.
Fixing the Jackson water situation is easy. All you need is the federal government to throw in a lot of money and manpower, and your job is easy. However, if you are a city struggling with revenue and very little manpower, it is going to be hard to fix anything. It's not rocket science. Henefin is doing no more than any other person could with those federal resources.
Well its just a shame we didnt get you to fix the problems. Good grief.
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