It’s time to give water department a bath
Published Monday, July 7, 2008
Turn the faucet handle and clean water flows out. That simple assumption is one that most Americans take for granted — unless, that is, you live in Ferriday.
For more than a dozen years, the water quality in Ferriday has been a constant battle.
In August 1999, a boil-water notice was issued and remained in effect for 120 straight days after the Louisiana Office of Public Health deemed the water unsafe due to persistent problems at the town’s water plant.
During the crisis as crews worked to make repairs at the water plant, residents were forced to line up at National Guard water tanks to obtain drinkable water.
In the almost 10 years since, the water system has been much more stable, but the water source remains questionable.
Ferriday and Concordia Parish leaders have considered drilling wells near Lake St. John and are now studying an option to raise the level of Old River — Ferriday’s current water source — in an effort to improve the quality.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture made $1.2 million in grant funds available to Ferriday back in 1999, just before the 120-day water crisis.
That money is still available, but no one has bothered coming up with a use for it.
Fortunately, new Mayor Glen McGlothin’s administration seems to be jumping into the water issues feet first.
Hopefully, if Ferriday’s leaders make this a top priority, one lingering stigma of Ferriday will go away once and for all and residents won’t think twice about having faith in the faucet again.