The Midwest experienced extreme and prolonged winter weather conditions in February, with temperatures dipping below -20 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas. The bitter temperatures caused waterline leaks and breaks at customer homes and businesses throughout the Pine Bluff, Arkansas community. This led to an increased water demand and decreased water pressure that stressed our system and impacted our customers.
Crews responded immediately, but their response was hampered early on by close to 20 inches of snow on the ground and continued extreme cold and winter weather. At the onset of the event, we notified customers asking them to report waterline leaks and to conserve water where safe to do so. Customer communication continued throughout the event.
As the event progressed, more than 90 Liberty employees from across our commodities, and service regions including Arizona, California, Missouri, and Illinois responded to assist our Arkansas crews in canvassing the community for leaks and addressing them. In addition, more than 30 contractors from engineers to leak detection experts assisted in the response. The Pine Bluff community participated as well, providing help from their police and fire departments and wastewater utility.
Recovery efforts included a wide variety of technology. Drones searched for leaks from above. Crews used detection tools to test water for signs of fluoride to determine if it was water from our system. This indicated a leak rather than water from melting snow and rain. And, leak detection experts used sensitive listening devices, similar to a stethoscope, to detect leaks.
The amount of water leaving our system initially, a more than 50 percent increase, indicated a major waterline break or more. However, as the recovery continued, we found or had reported close to 400 customer homes and business with waterline breaks caused by the extreme cold and countless other homes and businesses that repaired their issues without much fanfare. We continue to respond to new reports of customer leaks daily. To date, we have repaired approximately 70 leaks. Water pressures at our three water distribution plants serving Pine Bluff have returned to normal and the plants continue normal operating conditions. While pressures at times were extremely low, at no time during the event did we lose pressure or water distribution. As a result, we did not have to issue a boil advisory.
We know how critical and essential safe and reliable water is for our customers. In an effort to help residents of Pine Bluff and Jefferson County with the cost of repairing or replacing the waterline breaks at their homes, Liberty announced a $250,000 donation to customers experiencing hardship. After consultation and collaboration with Pine Bluff and Jefferson County leaders, Liberty partnered with United Way of Southeast Arkansas to help distribute these funds. That work is ongoing. Liberty also held three bottled water distribution events in Pine Bluff. Liberty volunteers from departments such as Business and Community Development and Safety staffed the events and gave out three semi-trailers of water – that’s over 114,000 bottles!
There’s always much to learn as a result of emergencies or crisis. In the days ahead, we’ll certainly study this event and our response, document our lessons learned, and adjust and continuously improve. But, we also learned, or maybe a better word is witnessed, how remarkable our Liberty team is. When we called, they showed up without hesitation – from across the country. Those who couldn’t come stayed behind and stepped up to fill in for those who responded. That’s teamwork. That’s commitment to service. That’s the heart of Liberty.