Germantown Water Crisis, Residents Still Unsure If Water is Safe

The city of Germantown, Tennessee, will host a town hall Thursday regarding the water crisis that left residents without water for over a week.

On July 20th, it was discovered diesel fuel from a generator was leaking into the city’s water supply, leaving most residents without safe water.

The city dealt with several severe storms in recent weeks that knocked out power to thousands of homes, with the water crisis compounding the difficulties for residents.

Residents in the Memphis suburb of over 40,000 people were advised not to consume the water or use it for bathing.

ABC24 previously noted that residents took matters into their own hands:

For the past week, parents like Mancuso have been relying on water giveaways like the one at the Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit, along with help from friends in other parts of Shelby County.

“Luckily I’ve got some friends in Memphis that are Memphis Water, so I fill up an ice chest for a bath every other day,” said Mancuso.

Across town, people like Robert Mylum are defying the water order, rolling the dice and taking their water filtration into their own hands. Mylum built a four-part device three years ago to help filter out particles in his outdoor hose to help prevent spots while cleaning his car.

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“I remembered that I had this particular water filtration system,” said Mylum.

Once the alert went out from the city, Mylum decided to bust out the device, saying it drastically reduced the contamination of the city’s water, telling ABC24, “It felt good enough to drink this water versus the tap water.”

ABC24 provides additional background in this video report:

“The City of Germantown (COG) and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) said on Thursday that water customers can resume normal use of water, but, on Friday, the groups warned that if residents can still smell an odor, they should not use their water for anything other than toilets,” ABC24 reported.

If residents still detect an odor after multiple rounds of flushing each faucet and spigot location, they should revert to using water only to flush toilets until the odor is gone. pic.twitter.com/0tKuaVO3Jy

— City of Germantown (@germantowntenn) July 28, 2023

From ABC24:

As of noon on Friday, about two percent of Germantown’s 15,000 homes are reporting odors in their service lines even after the water order was lifted.

Reports of odors are in concentrated areas and the City said on Friday they were “executing additional main line flushing” to target these areas. These areas are predominantly at the crests of hills and where main lines dead end, such as in coves, they said.

The city also said by Saturday evening that reports of new locations for the odor had “decreased significantly.” Samples at 19 targeted and regional locations that were collected on Friday all came back clear and not detecting diesel, according to the City of Germantown (COG).

COG released a video explaining results of water testing.

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For those that do not smell an odor, city leaders said that water system lines still must be flushed to rid water that has been standing in interior pipes.

The city said as long as residents do not smell an odor after flushing the system, they can resume consumption and regular water use once the system is flushed.

Some customers may see some sediment or discoloration in their water once they start flushing their system. Officials said seeing sediment or discoloration is normal, and it is caused by the extensive flushing of City water mains over the past few days. They said the sediment will settle as normal water usage returns.

The City has received several requests for an explanation of the test results that were released last evening. The following explanation refers to the testing that took place at the underground reservoir and tower located on Southern Avenue. https://t.co/nC7YVtPweR

— City of Germantown (@germantowntenn) July 28, 2023

Despite the city lifting the water restrictions, many Germantown residents remain unsure if the water is safe for consumption.

Fox 13 reports:

The City of Germantown will be hosting a town hall to talk about the city’s recent water crisis.

Diesel fuel spilled into the city’s water, keeping residents from being able to drink or shower with the water for over a week.

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Through a series of flushing and running of the water, Germantown city officials said they were able to make the water safe for consumption again. However, many residents remained unsure even after given the green light.

The town hall will be Thursday, August 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Germantown Performing Arts Center on Exeter Road.

The City of Germantown will host a town hall meeting on Thursday, August 3, from 6 to 8 p.m., to present information and engage the public regarding the recent water crisis. The meeting will take place at Germantown Performing Arts Center, 1801 Exeter Road. pic.twitter.com/aKRUlpb0dl

— City of Germantown (@germantowntenn) July 31, 2023

Federal regulators reportedly are looking into the Germantown water contamination.

WREG reports:

An EPA spokesperson also shared the following in regard to its response: “EPA is developing a list of addition recommendations for Germantown to conduct for margin of safety. This includes ongoing voluntary sampling for diesel constituents.”

WREG also asked the EPA about whether it’s cited Germantown in regard to the spill. Agency officials didn’t answer that question.

Germantown issued an advisory against drinking or using tap water after a diesel spill traced to a backup generator was detected in the water July 20. The advisory was lifted a week later.