MLGW hopes to have boil water advisory lifted within next few days

UPDATE SUNDAY:

MLGW says they expect to lift the boil water advisory later this week.

MLGW President Doug McGowen said in a press conference Sunday that he is hopeful water pressure will rise enough by Wednesday of this week to begin testing the water, which means if results are clear, the boil water advisory should be lifted on Thursday.

They do say the timeline is tentative as of now.

“If we remain on this very positive path and we are on a positive path, I believe that by Wednesday we will reach pressures sufficient for us to take samples from our water system,” McGowen said.

MLGW asks customers to stop dripping their water since temperatures have risen above freezing. Doing so will keep 10 million gallons of water in the system.

McGowen says as of now 41 water mains have been repaired, and water has been shut off to 4000 customers who experienced breaks in their homes and businesses.

Over the next 24 hours, MLGW says customers who have been without water should start receiving water again.

McGowen says that hard work is already paying off.

“The good news is that because of that work, the pressures in our system today are beginning to build back up. And as know, some customers when we had that low pressure are having a no water condition. Today, some customers who had no water are beginning to see water flow in their homes and businesses again,” he said.

The water conservation order remains in effect.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Light, Gas, and Water said on Saturday that they are focused on finding and repairing all water leaks across the city, but they are still unsure when all systems will be back up and running.

MLGW President and CEO Doug McGowen said in a press conference Saturday that their efforts are focused on repairing water main leaks as well as leaks in homes and businesses.

“We will continue that effort 24/7 until we have found all of those leaks,” he said.

This is the third boil water advisory in Memphis history. MLGW has discovered and repaired 36 water main leaks and more than 2,00 leaks in homes and businesses so far.

MLGW expands precautionary boil water advisory to all customers

McGowen says that as the temperatures rise on Sunday, more pipes will burst and there will be more leaks that will need to be fixed.

McGowen says about 15% of customers in the northwest and southeast portions of the city have little to no water, and other areas are seeing the pressure come and go due to breaks throughout the system.

There are currently over 100 MLGW crews actively looking for and repairing leaks, which they say is the key to restoring water pressure.

Once water pressure is above 20 psi, MLGW will begin testing water samples. The boil water advisory will be lifted when the water is tested and passes inspection.

“That’s our threshold, once the pressures are up above 20 pounds/square inch, we can begin testing the water at our laboratory. We’ll have to wait 18-24 hours for the cultures to come back,” McGowen said. “And then we can send those results to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation so that we can lift that boil water advisory which I anticipate will happen into next week.”

📲 Download the WREG App today and stay up to date with breaking news and weather.

📧 Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox.

📡 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.

MLGW anticipates the boil water advisory to be lifted at some point next week.

While MLGW crews do their part, they are asking you to do yours.

“Delay running the dishwasher until it’s completely full, delay running small loads of laundry if you can. Tomorrow when the water warms up, if everybody could stop dripping faucets when the weather is above freezing tomorrow, although it doesn’t feel like it now, tomorrow will be warmer and Monday will be warmer, that could contribute 5 of 10 million gallons of water if we all stop dripping tomorrow when the weather is warmer,” said McGowen.

All MLGW customers are also asked to stop dripping water faucets when temperatures rise above freezing on Sunday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.