HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. —
Helena-West Helena Judge Clark Hall received orders from Mayor Christopher Franklin to deploy the Arkansas National Guard (ARNG) and declare a verbal disaster. This comes after all residents lost access to running water Sunday, June 25, due to a "computer-like failure" at the city's utility company, Phillips County Office of Emergency said.
The Water Treatment Plant's SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system crashed Sunday morning, and after making some repairs, the company's water treatment system and filters became nonfunctional, causing all residents to lose access to clean water.
ARNG dispatched soldiers from Whitehall Armory to respond to the water disaster mission, and several soldiers were stationed at the West Helena Fire Department located at 98 Plaza St. to help distribute clean water from water tanks Sunday night.
The ARNG reached out to Barton Lexa-Water for help and were able to receive water from a master meter to provide potable water for West Helena residents.
Water distribution began at 10 p.m. Sunday. ARNG instructed all residents to bring their own containers to fill water, informing that the state would not provide containers.
The ARNG said it hopes to resolve issues with the water supply sometime Monday, June 26.
General Manager of West Helena Water Utilities Calvin Murdock said an adequate disinfectant level would have to be established throughout the distribution system. A bacteriological survey showing that the water is safe to drink will also be required once all water issues are resolved according to Murdock.
What caused the water treatment system to fail?
According to the water company, a repair company replaced parts and rewired pumps to fix the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system. After the repairs were made, the water filters and treatment system completely failed.
With water being unable to complete the full treatment cycle, water began to overflow, flooding the water filters.
Several residents who drove by the water treatment plant took to social media, positing videos of water spilling over the side of the water filter.
In a press release, the West Helena Water Utility company warned that the overflowing water was not treated and could not be used to fill containers for customer use.
The issues started when the SCADA system malfunctioned early Sunday morning, and water was not pushed to the water system or the tank, the utility company said.
Problems with the SCADA system also caused water pumps to fail, and the pumps would not work in manual mode, the water company said, which resulted in water not being sent out from their water plant after it was treated.
The city's early response to the disaster
Mayor Christopher Franklin first issued a boil water advisory for the city around 5 p.m. Sunday before the water issue was declared a disaster.
The SCADA malfunction deprived West Helena's water system and north water tank of the continuous water supply, according to Murdock.
When there was still available water, citizens were urged to boil it for at least one minute before cooking, making ice, brushing teeth or washing dishes.
All ice cubes previously made should be disposed of and only boiled water should be used for making ice, according to Murdock.
The city said the precautionary notice would remain in effect until the problem was corrected and