Filter Problems Cause Bartlesville Leaders To Call For Water Conservation

The City of Bartlesville asked residents to conserve water again Tuesday, not necessarily because of our hot, dry weather, but because of a problem with the city's filtration system.

Crews worked on it Tuesday morning, but the city said it may take a day for them to know if it's fixed.

The Water Utilities Director said even though it's a problem with the filtration system, the water that's getting through is perfectly safe. It's just the filter system can't keep up with the demand caused by sweltering hot temperature and several consecutive days without rain.

Water Utilities Director, Mike Hall, said the issue with the filtration system was not completely uncommon.

"You never know with mechanical systems and sometimes we have problems with those," Hall said.

Hall insisted the water is still clean; the filters just can't supply it quickly enough when 50,000 customers turn on the tap.

7/9/2012 Related Story: Bartlesville Leaders Ask Residents To Conserve Water

On a normal summer day, the system is taxed between 12 and 13 million gallons. Monday's demand was 15 million gallons.

But try as it might, right now the filtration system is only able to pump out about half that much.

Crews worked on the filter system Tuesday morning. Hall said they'll be able to tell if it's fixed by the amount of water produced over the next 24 hours.

"Well, it has kind of been a pain. Anytime you get into a hot, dry spell and everybody wants to use the water, we like to have it there. We don't like to inconvenience any or our customers," Hall said.

It's an inconvenience, but it's a necessity. The city is asking people to cut back on their water usage, especially during the heat of the day.

"It's not very cost effective for people to go out in the middle of the day, because fifty percent of that water they throw up into the air evaporates before it even hits the ground," Hall said.