By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
Duke Energy and city contracting crews restarted the electrical system Sunday night at the Yadkin River pump station and hoped they brought an end to a four-day water emergency in Salisbury.
“We fired up the pump station and everything appears to be going well,” Salisbury-Rowan Utilities Director Jim Behmer said at 10:45 p.m. Sunday.
Behmer said the rest of the night should tell whether everything was functioning properly.
City Manager David Treme said the successful startup was good news. He was on hand to see the pump station once again moving water toward the reservoir at a rate of 12 million gallons a day.
“It looks very promising to this point,” Treme said.
Duke Energy engaged its new transformer at the pump station, followed by the city’s bringing its repaired electrical system on line. Crews worked all weekend.
Wednesday’s high winds knocked out power at the river intake, the water supply source for Salisbury, Spencer, East Spencer, Granite Quarry and Rockwell.
Salisbury-Rowan Utilities also has water supply contracts with industries such as Southern Power off N.C. 801 and the municipalities of China Grove, Landis and Kannapolis.
The city asked customers to take Level II mandatory conservation measures Thursday once the extent of the damage was apparent.
Behmer said if the electrical system proves to be working and dependable again, the Level II mandatory restrictions probably will be lifted. A decision is expected today.
Salisbury’s 18 million-gallon raw water reservoir has returned to almost full, Behmer said, thanks to the two 5 million-gallons-a-day diesel pumps put into service Thursday.
The temporary pumps and piping sent water from the Yadkin River to the reservoir at Ellis Crossroads.
The reservoir level, which was down to 10 feet Thursday, was back up to 24 feet Sunday, Behmer said.
The city also has an 11 million-gallon reservoir at Ellis Crossroads, but it is currently not available because of maintenance taking place.
The two reservoirs usually hold about a four-day supply of raw water for Salisbury-Rowan Utilities.
The conservation measures, the backup pumps and a water connection with Statesville helped to improve the reservoir level.
In response to droughts, Salisbury and Statesville had set up an emergency water connection to supply either municipality with up to two million gallons of treated water a day.
“We’re much better off than we were Friday,” Behmer said about 7:30 Sunday night. “I feel good, but until you start everything …”