Mayor's Blog
From early morning on Wednesday, September 17 through mid-afternoon on Sunday, September 21 citizens of the City of Jasper experienced the first city-wide water boil order since 2004. Acknowledging the inconvenience that boiling water prior to consuming placed on our residential, commercial and industrial customers, we also remain grateful that the City retained the ability to deliver water for fire protection, bathing and washing during this incident.
Initial reviews of the event by both Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Jasper Municipal Water Utility indicate the cause appears to be a natural “turning” of the Patoka River which occurred in a way never before experienced by the water treatment plant. As of this time all testing, readings and equipment operated as expected and all plant protocols were followed. It should be noted that water department employees went beyond protocols to help solve the problem and that procedures have already been updated in preparation for any similar event in the future.
We will continue our review with the goal to have a public report on the incident at an upcoming meeting of the Jasper Utility Service Board. Until then, on behalf of the entire Jasper Water Utilities we wish to express our thanks to a many including the assistance of IDEM, Ireland, Huntingburg, Dubois and Patoka Water Utilities, other Jasper utility departments and those of the civil city of Jasper as well as all city personnel. Specifically, we offer thanks for manpower to the Wastewater Department, Jasper Park & Recreation Department, Jasper Volunteer Fire Department, Jasper Police Department and Midwestern Engineers.
Words cannot express how beneficial Donna Oeding and the Dubois County Health Department was. Kudos to all who helped get the word out: Jasper Police Communications officers, Dubois County Emergency Management, the Dubois County 911 Center and Dr. Tracy Lorey of the Greater Jasper Consolidated Schools for use of their callout system. The media played an ongoing, valuable role throughout the order and the coverage was very informative.
The Jasper business community was very understanding and helpful. We want to acknowledge the Port of Jasper for permitting us to fill water containers in front of their business and German American for providing meals to water department staff. Finally we thank you, the public, and customers of Jasper Municipal Utilities for your comments, questions and most of all, your understanding.
With greatest regards,
Terry Seitz
Mayor of Jasper
