The City has received a number of questions about our water system over the past few months and our goal is to make sure that our citizens are informed. The best way to counter incorrect is with facts and this is what we intend to do.
This FAQ format press release focuses on the Walhalla Water Plant. We plan to issue more FAQs covering water topics in the near future.
We also encourage citizens to review the water strategy that council adopted in August 2024 (by a 5-1 vote): walhalla-water-strategy.pdf
Previous Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Walhalla water released last year can be found here: faqs.pdf
Additionally, more information on our Public Utilities Department, including how to report water issues, is available here: Public Utilities – City of Walhalla
Water Plant
Q: Did the state Department of Environmental Services (DES) rate Walhalla’s water plant as ‘unsatisfactory’ in February?
A: Yes, but this rating was not related in any way to the quality of water produced by the plant.
It was largely due to procedural and technical issues, the vast majority of which had been resolved by the time of the state’s follow-up inspection in July, which led to DES upgrading its rating of the water plant to ‘Need Improvement.’ Since the July report, the city has resolved all but two of the issues cited by DES in July and we expect both of these issues to be resolved by the next DES inspection.
Q: Is it true that the city only has $9,000 left in its water treatment chemical account?
A: No. The city budgeted $100,000 for chemicals in the current fiscal year. The balance in the account as of the end of August is over $87,000.
Q: Does the city have the equipment necessary to clean the sediment pond at the water plant?
A: Yes. The city purchased a large track hoe primarily for that purpose in early spring and has dump trucks that are necessary for this task.
Q: Is the sediment pond overflowing at the water plant because it has not been cleaned?
A: No. Although a recent media report gave that impression, it was filmed after the pond had been drained in preparation for its scheduled cleaning, which gave the false appearance of an overflowing sediment pond.
Q: According to a recent media report, the city has no spare parts for its water system. Is this true?
A: This report focused on an empty auxiliary warehouse. However, the city has two other stockpiles of spare parts for its water system: one at Cedar Street and another at the main storage area inside the water plant. Unfortunately, these were not included in the report. Still, we do require additional spare parts to be ready for repairs and replacements, particularly at our water plant, and are working to ensure that we have such parts on hand.
Q: Why was my water discolored in early July? I thought the city had fixed that problem after it occurred last year.
A: After high temperatures caused manganese and iron to discolor city water in 2024, the Walhalla water plant put procedures in place to keep this from happening again. Unfortunately, due to human error these procedures were not followed until the discoloration began.
Q: Why did two water pumps that were supposed to last 20-25 years fail within a month of each other after less than six years?
A: We also find this unusual and are still investigating this occurrence.
Q: Did the city know that one of the pumps did not work in June?
A: No. Our water plant reported one motor had failed, but not the pump mechanism. The motor was immediately sent out for repairs, but unfortunately, our public utilities department did not check the pump mechanism at that time. We have since updated our operation manuals to require that employees inspect all components of a critical system when one part fails.
