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Mill Spring Water System Hit by Lightning

Residents in Mill Spring, Black River Retreat #3, and Public Water Supply District #3, which serves the Redwood Acres Subdivision area near Clearwater Lake, discovered they had no water late Saturday evening.

Mill Spring officials at first thought that a blown transformer was the cause of the problems. Black River Electric Cooperative send a crew Sunday morning to replace the transformer. However, that did not correct the village’s water issues. The village’s water supply system was not operational due to a lightning strike that took out the well pump.

Angela Clyburn, chairman of the Village of Mill Spring Board of Trustees said Sunday afternoon, that Mill Spring has contacted Flynn Drilling. The company sent workers to the village Monday morning  to assess the damages.

Bottled water was delivered to Mill Spring for residents to pick up Sunday. The Clearwater Fire Protection District set up a portable tank in Mill Spring so that residents could obtain water to flush toilets.

Several years ago, the line between Mill Spring and PWSD #3 was broken and took several weeks to repair. During that time, the water district worked out an agreement with City of Piedmont where they could purchase water and an interconnect was installed between the two municipalities.

Late Sunday afternoon, the interconnect was activated and water customers in the Redwood Acres Subdivision started receiving water from Piedmont. The interconnect is also sending water to Mill Spring.

“The Interconnect is up and running; pressure may be low,” Clyburn said. “A boil water is in place until further notice. Thank you for your patience.”

Customers have not been given a date when a new well pump will be installed. On Sunday, Clyburn had said she hoped that repairs would be made by the weekend.

PIEDMONT RURAL fire captain Dylan Jimerson, left, and Clearwater Fire Protection District Chief Earl Mumper set out a portable water tank in Mill Spring to supply nonpotable water to Mill Spring residents while the village residents. The portable tank was filled with water from one of the fire district’s tankers.

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