The community of Stebbins will begin hauling water in trucks by the start of next week, if not earlier, as they deal with an ongoing “water crisis.” Stebbins’ water supply has been limited since the community’s diesel pump broke down and the water transmission line froze last month.
City Administrator Nora Tom says an alternative to using the frozen water line and diesel pump is to use trucks with 2,000 gallon tanks to haul water from their water source: a lake about five miles outside of town. Water Treatment Plant Operator Peter Martin says one of the trucks is up and running and can begin hauling water soon.
One concerned citizen says water use at the community’s washeteria is being restricted so people in Stebbins cannot take showers right now and, instead, must travel to St. Michael. Martin says the City will continue to limit water usage until their 500,000-gallon water tank is full.
In order to prevent situations like this from occurring in the future, Martin says a back-up diesel pump from Stebbins’ nearby lake would be needed. It is unknown how much it would cost to install and maintain a back-up diesel pump in addition to repairing the current one.
