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HURRICANE, Utah (AP) -- The Quail Creek Water Treatment plant, taken over by Washington County Water Conservancy District earlier this year, ran out of powder activated carbon for its filtration system and was closed down Monday.
Carbon was to be delivered during the night, and officials hoped to put the plant back on line.
The closure resulted in poor water pressure in some areas of St. George and other communities.
St. George, Santa Clara, Ivins and Washington City also had to put their wells into service to meet water needs for a day and residents were urged to conserve water and not water their lawns until Tuesday.
The 20-year-old plant, previously run by St. George, had not run out of carbon before.
The plant was taken over by the county water district in mid-April.
Barbara Hjelle, water district assistant general manager, said, "Apparently, there is a limiting factor for the bulk carbon, which is delivered by pneumatic trucks. There are a limited number of them (trucks)."
The carbon was to be delivered a week ago, but a truck was not available, Hjelle said.
Hjelle said the water was safe to drink, but without the filtration process, it has odor and taste problems.
The plant is the only one in the county that uses carbon filtration.
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Information from: The Spectrum, http://www.thespectrum.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
