FERRIDAY — In 1988, a young and newly-elected Mayor Glen McGlothin cut the ribbon on a new water treatment plant for the Town of Ferriday.

The plans for the plant began in the early 1980s under his uncle Hubert Lee McGlothin’s administration and were finalized under Sammy Davis Jr., and the plant was meant to replace an older lime treatment plant that caused hard water problems and turned everything it touched orange.

“At the time, we thought that plant was going to be the savior of us all,” Glen McGlothin said.

Unbeknownst to anyone present, the town was about to enter more than two decades of water-based headaches.

Originally, the plant was supposed to run itself, but within a year, it had to be retrofitted to treat levels of manganese from the plant’s water source, Old River.

And that began the battle, which at present includes having someone at the plant 24 hours a day.

“We have been retrofitting this plant ever since it opened,” McGlothin said.

During the following years, the water system has failed, been fixed, and failed again, resulting in numerous short boil-water orders and two extended ones, and very few satisfied water customers.

Two mayors — McGlothin and Gene Allen — called for efforts to find a new water source.

Efforts to fix the plant have been stop-and-go. At some times efforts came to a complete stop because of a lack of maintenance. More than one promising start at fixing it never came to fruition.

Current plans under way include fixing the plant to last long enough to build a new one.

What follows is a timeline of major events associated with the water plant:

-1988 — The plant opens. The funds to pay for it came from an FHA loan.

-1989 — Less than a year after the plant opens, workers discover that the plant can’t remove manganese which — while not dangerous — colors the water, stains what it touches and stinks.

-1996 — Mayor Glen McGlothin takes a gallon of water to Washington, D.C., and asks the local congressional delegation to drink it. They decline, and ultimately direct a $1.6 million grant to fix the grant to the town. The grant is, as of yet, unused.

-Aug. 20, 1999 — The water plant stops running correctly, and starts shutting down. The then Department of Public Health issues an indefinite boil-water notice until the plant can be repaired and tests show that the water was being properly treated.

-Oct. 25, 1999 — Ferriday water customer Gloria Martello files a lawsuit against the town and engineering firm Owen and White. The company U.S. Filter, which was instrumental in the plant’s construction, was later added to the suit.

-Dec. 3, 1999 — Following a court order requiring the town to preserve any records of work done to the plant, parties involved in the lawsuit tour the water plant.

-Dec. 22, 1999 — After 124 days, the necessary repairs needed to fix the plant and get the approval of the Department of Public Health are completed, and the boil-water order is lifted. The repairs were ultimately paid for with grant funds.

-Feb. 1, 2000 — A major leak on the north side of the plant is discovered but is repaired before the water pressure level falls below the point of requiring a boil-water notice.

-January 2001 — The town defaults on the FHA loan used to pay for the plant due to theft of town funds and costs associated with the 1999 shutdown. The former town clerk and water clerk had pleaded guilty to the thefts in September 2000. The town borrows $240,000 to pay the loan note.

-February 2001 — The town asks the federal government to forgive more than $2 million owed for the plant so it can build a new structure. The request was ultimately denied.

-April 30, 2001 — The hearing to determine if the Martello lawsuit should be upgraded to class action begins.

-June 2001 — The FHA requires the town to raise their water rates to pay off the defaulted loan note.

-June 28, 2001 — The town files a cross suit against Owens and White and U.S. Filter, alleging any liability for the shut down belongs to them.

-July 26, 2001 — The lawsuit is class action certified by the Seventh Judicial District Court, and is expanded to include anyone who lived in, worked or owned a business in, or leased property in the town of Ferriday. It also included those were students at Ferriday schools or patients in Ferriday’s healthcare facilities.

-July 31, 2001 — Water customers receive notices in the mail that chloroform bacteria had been discovered in the water in June 2001. Health department officials said it was possible using old testing bags caused the positive test, and nine subsequent tests tested negative for the contaminant.

-March 2004 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture tells the town it can use a $1.1 million grant to seek a new water source rather than use the grant on the existing plant.

-March 9, 2006 — A water main breaks, leaving the town without water for two days. Following the restoration of water, a boil-order remained in effect for three days.

-April 2006 — The town council agrees to settle in the lawsuit. U.S. Filter would pay the town $137,500, and Owens and White would pay the town $443,176 to help retire the debt it owed on the plant.

-September 2006 — the town begins advertising for a new water storage tank.

-December 2006 — The town receives its settlement money, and the members of the class action suit receive checks of $325.

-January 2007 — Ferriday Water Superintendent Gregory Griggs warns the town council that the water tank at the plant is rapidly deteriorating. The aldermen request emergency bids for the water tank.

Rodney Davis of Triton Water Technologies presents the board with a proposal to repair the town water system. The town eventually signs a tentative agreement with Triton, which includes fixing the plant and replacing the town’s billing system with a more accurate one.

-May 2007 — The town receives its final settlement check from the lawsuit.

-March 5, 2008 — The state auditor’s office locks down town hall to review water billing collections because the water system had been spending more than it took in for years.

-April 9, 2008 — Ferriday water customers are put on a short, precautionary boil-order because of a break caused by erosion in a copper water line.

-July 2008 — The town again reaches a tentative agreement with Triton.

-Sept. 1, 2008 — Hurricane Gustav causes damage to the water tank that significantly widens an extant hole that formed in 2006.

-February 2009 — The town council gives final approval for Triton work. It also approves a $2.3 million bond issue for water improvement.

-May 12, 2009 — The Department of Health and Hospitals places the town on an indefinite boil-water order because of the 2007 breach in the tank.

No contaminants are found in the water, but DHH protocol requires a boil-order.

-May 14, 2009 — Water trucks are moved into town to provide potable drinking water.

-May 26, 2009 — The town council votes to terminate the Triton contract because work has not begun. Council members said they believed the company had failed to move quickly enough, and that rather than waiting for work to begin they would seek other alternatives. Town officials said Triton was supposed to find front-end funding for the project but had not.

Triton officials later denied that any fault laid with the company, and denied the town’s claims about their obligation for initial funding.

-July — August, 2009 — Increased demand on the plant coupled with the fact that it cannot be filled to capacity due to the breach cause the plant to lose water pressure several times.

Repairs to plant equipment are completed.

-July 29, 2009 — The governor’s office gives the town a $250,000 grant to address water issues.

-Aug. 3, 2009 — The town declares a state of emergency specifically for the water tank to expedite the bidding process.

-Sept. 8, 2009 — The board of aldermen vote to accept a bid of $476,000 for a new tank. Funding will come from the $250,000 grant from the governor’s office and $200,000 of the town’s own money.

-Late December 2009 — Tentative date to have the new tank installed and the boil-water order lifted.