Mount Vernon’s water tower will be out of commission the week of Sept. 26 through roughly Oct. 1.
The City of Mount Vernon has been upfront with these repairs on both their social media and website, as well as discussing it at the Wednesday, Sept. 7, council meeting.
The goal is that it will take roughly two days of cleaning by contractors, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 27, with the water tower to be back on by the end of the day Wednesday, Sept. 28, and refilled and back in service by Friday, Sept. 30. There needs to be a clean bacteria check before the water tower can be placed back in service.
There’s a chance that the project could take longer than those two days, if anything comes up with the project, and the city will keep the public advised if repairs or time the tower is out of service increases.
During this time, citizens are encouraged to conserve water as much as possible eliminating large uses of water like cleaning cars, watering lawns or gardens or power washing.
Citizens may also notice lower water pressure during that time period, which could impact laundry or running dishwashers.
Our water tower being offline highlights the investment in infrastructure for city water.
We know that the water tower being out of commission is a minor inconvenience to us all, but it’s a reflection of the care being paid to our water infrastructure from our town, and the choice for early fall as when the tower is taken offline is done for a reason – it’s when water usage is much lower for the entire city.
And letting citizens know and getting this message out well in advance of the repairs being made is something to be commended as well.