October Rains Bring Flooding, Water Supply Issues To Jay

Early October rainfall brought issues to an Green Country community's water supply.

The City of Jay was feeling the effects of rainfall debris and are now faced with difficult task of getting their water to back to drinking quality standards. Jay Utilities Director, David Brewster, says his crews have been testing the water every 15 minutes using more chemicals than normal.

"Its been really tough, we are all tired," says Brewster. "Normally our NTU levels are two to five, and NTU is a measurement of the water and now we are looking at 350."

Brewster says they have increased staffing working around the clock to make sure when the water is turned on it's clear.

Mayor Becki Farley said the storms hit the town hard, but she is confident the town will get through it. 

"We are not a wealthy community, and I am not concerned because I know we have the two best supervisors at this plant to make sure everything is the way it should be," says Farley. 

Jay and much of Delaware county had roads that were washed out due to rainwater, which affected school bus routes and made for unsafe conditions to drive on.

County Commissioner Martin Kirk says repair are fixing thousands of dollars of damage, reminding him of the devastation of May's historic flooding. 

"It seems like about the time we get all our roads fixed, we get another round of devastating flooding, but we just have to keep plugging along," says Kirk.

The city says it will take two to three days to get back to normal.