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Lincoln mayor: City 'a little unlucky' in dealing with water

Dave Thompson
/
Prairie Public

You can’t blame Lincoln Mayor Gerald Wise if he feels a little unlucky with the city’s water supply.

The recent “boil order” issued after E. coli was found in one home was the latest in a series of unfortunate incidents. One incident happened this past winter.

"We had a power outage up by our tanks, which caused a miscommunication between the tanks and the pump system," Wise said. "It basically told the pumps the tank was empty."

A quick check showed that was not the case.

"In the wintertime, most tanks form an ice cap," Wise said. "What happened was, it kept pushing water, and it pushed the roof off the water tank."

Wise said that problem was repaired, and the tanks passed state inspection.

"After the tanks were fixed, we had a valve on the west side of town that we wanted to replace to allow us to have more water to come into the city," Wise said.

Wise said Lincoln has been having a problem with having enough water.

"It's growing pains," Wise said. "And it's grey-hair pains."

The boil order was lifted Friday – after the one house cleared further E. coli tests.

 

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