Vacations are intended to be a time of rest and enjoyment, but the City of Gray’s superintendent continues to recuperate from the repercussions of his trip south, as does the city’s water system and local businesses.
Cheyenne Morgan said he returned to Gray Sept. 16 and still had time left on his vacation when he found out things were going awry with the city’s water system.
The superintendent said he received a call about 8:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 19, from the water operator on duty stating that the city’s large water tank, located near the former Gray Elementary School, was at 25 percent capacity.
Morgan said that was not alarming and was something he had seen many times with the water tank usually refilling overnight. But that did not happen.
Instead, when he went to check the tank at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, Sept. 20, the tank was virtually empty.
“That’s when we called everyone in to work. It was all hands on deck,” he said.
Morgan said the first thought was a water main break, and the search to locate it was on. He said normally a high-use event is due to a break in the water line. He said this is the first time to his knowledge the system had been lost due to supply and demand.
The superintendent said the city has two water sources, the water the city generates from its wells and the Jones County Water System. The City of Gray is the biggest water customer for the county’s water department.
Hunt was on
The hunt for the main break was extensive with the county crew coming in to help as well as Gray Police officers, checking more than 70 miles of water line. When no break was found, Morgan called in Georgia Rural Water to bring in more sophisticated equipment to detect a leak with no luck.
“After we didn’t find a leak, I got tunnel vision. We had to find a way to refill our tanks,” he said.
Morgan talked to the water operator who was in charge and found out that the county had let him know Sept. 15 the water supply to the city was going to be cut back.
“I think that’s when our supply started declining,” he said.
The superintendent said the usual communication between the city and county about that adjusted supply did not happen. He said, however, that the reports show the supply of water in the tanks appeared fine Friday. It was the 24 hours between 11:26 a.m. Friday and the same time Saturday morning that showed the supply falling behind.
To compound the problem, the city was having well problems, another distraction.
Morgan said there seemed to be a high demand event during that time, although nothing could be found.
“I became laser focused on returning water to Gray. We talk every summer about the high demand for water and the need to prepare,” he said. “Now that we have experienced this, we know we have to deal with it quicker and have a plan in place.”
The Gray Fire Department, under the leadership of Chief Keith Eisele, stepped up to provide water to the Jones County jail and Autumn Lane Rehab, using fire trucks to directly pump water into those buildings.
The firefighters took shifts to keep that water supplied.
Recovery
Morgan said the city’s biggest elevated tank holds 750,000 gallons of water with the next biggest tank 200,000 gallons. He said it’s the height of the tanks that creates water pressure.
“I still can’t say I understand how this happened, but between us and the county, we weren’t meeting the demand. It is the worst case I’ve seen happen,” he said.
The supply ultimately began recovering when the big tank was bypassed, allowing the smaller tanks to refill. He said the city’s wells have been running 24/7 to help, and when the two newest city water wells come online at the end of the year, the city should have some breathing room.
“That’s going to be a big help,” he added.
Morgan said the city has been drilling wells since 2019 trying to address the water supply issue.
“This has been a tough lesson, but we have learned from it,” he said.
Morgan said he plans to change the structure of the department and add personnel. He said an assistant city superintendent is needed as well as a better monitoring system.
The superintendent said he takes responsibility for what happened. He said water samples were sent to the labs as soon as they opened Monday to make sure the restaurants could open as soon as possible. Those test results were back at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning and sent to the health department immediately.
The schools were shut down Monday and Tuesday. Morgan said that was a good decision because of the lack of fire protection that was available.
“I know the responsibility of this lies with me,” he said, “but no one cares more about this than I do.”
Teamwork
The superintendent worked 40 hours over the two days they were trying to resolve the issue. He said he never saw anything like the cooperation and assistance the city received during this crisis.
Morgan said Gray Police Chief Adam Lowe stayed with him during the two days they were looking for a main break, and Jones County Water Superintendent Brandon Stark and all county water employees came to help.
He said Georgia Rural Water came to help as soon as they were called, and the Gray Fire Department kept water flowing to the sheriff’s office and Autumn Lane.
“I’ve never seen anything like this teamwork. Everyone came together to resolve the issue,” he said.
“It was awesome.” Morgan said they continue to work to refill the tanks, but more headway is made at night when less water is being used.
The superintendent did say that he could debunk one of the social media theories that the city’s water system was hacked by outside entities.
“Everything is manned at the Gray Water System. We are not under threat of a cyber attack,” he said.
