Flooding forced Crystal City to temporarily close its water treatment plant and to buy treated water from Festus, Crystal City officials said at their Monday night City Council meeting.
Crystal City received approximately 2,872,800 gallons of water from its neighbor from Dec. 30 to Jan. 7, when the plant reopened.
Crystal City water superintendent Larry Lalk said the water plant at Hug’s Landing shut down in the early morning hours of Dec. 30 when floodwater from the Mississippi River threatened to contaminate it. Several hours later, workers opened a water valve between the cities for Festus water to come to Crystal City, officials reported.
Lalk said the Missouri Rural Water Association and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources inspected the plant Jan. 5 and it went back in service Jan. 7.
Floodwater got into the basement of the plant, Lalk said, but never got into the plant’s water supply.
Crystal City Mayor Tom Schilly said he was grateful to Festus for sharing its water supply with Crystal City. At present, the city does not know how much the water will cost.
City Administrator Jason Eisenbeis said he sent a letter to Festus officials asking that Crystal City be given a price break – the wholesale rate – because the need came about through an emergency.
Festus gets its water from the Jefferson County Water Authority, which uses the Cathy Jokerst Water Plant in Herculaneum to draw and process water from the Mississippi River.
The request for the wholesale water rate was on the agenda for Wednesday’s Festus City Council meeting, after the Leader’s deadline.
