Sand Springs & Sapulpa To Conduct Water Supply Maintenance

By Chris Wright, The News On 6

SKIATOOK LAKE -- Two Green Country cities will have to use alternative water supplies for nearly two weeks. 

Extensive maintenance will be performed at Skiatook Lake's treatment plant, and that means it won't be providing water for Sand Springs and Sapulpa residents.

Experts claim Skiatook Lake is one of Oklahoma's cleanest lakes. It also supplies water for both Sand Springs and Sapulpa, just not from Monday, March 8 through March 19th.

Maintenance will be performed on the equipment at the water treatment plant. Sand Springs Public Works employee Frank Weigle said it's a relatively routine procedure that is performed every three years.

"It's just routine maintenance, and routine maintenance we cannot do with the system operating, or in operation on a continual round the clock mode," said Weigle.

So the pumps, which can handle 16 million gallons a day, will be shut down and inspected.

They're performing the maintenance this time of year in early March because it has the lowest water usage of any time of the year, as supposed to summer when it really picks up. So right now, it's also the lowest risk.

"The demands are real low. Summertime we'll run 13 million gallons a day. Right now, we're running four," said Rick Sauer, Operations Maintenance.

While the work is being done, there are alternative plans in place. Sand Springs residents will get their water from Shell Lake, and Sapulpa's will come from Lake Sahoma.

Sand Springs and Sapulpa have been sharing the Skiatook Lake water supply for the past 18 years.