Jonesborough leaders explain water conservation request

JONESBOROUGH, TENN. (WJHL) — On Monday, the Town of Jonesborough officially asked its 13,000 water customers to conserve water . On Tuesday, town officials further explained to News Channel 11 the reason for the request.

Although the town’s water source is the Nolichucky River, it’s the town’s three million-gallon water tower on Persimmon Ridge that is the true indicator of available water.

Keven Brobeck, Jonesborough’s Utility Manager, said Tuesday that the tank is just over half full.

“It’s 60 feet high, and we try to keep it around 45 to 50 feet in that tank,” Brobeck said.
“That’s our reservoir. That’s our reserve and it’s what pressurizes our system and feeds our system. Right now, we’re a little less than 30 feet, which is not optimal for us.”

With little to no rain in weeks and a record number of days of 90-degree temperatures, the water demands have increased while the supply has diminished.

Brobeck said the tank’s levels are usually replenished at night when most people’s faucets are off. Lately, however, he’s seen several residents watering their lawns at night, which can make it difficult for the reservoir to catch up.

Jonesborough Mayor Chuck Vest addressed that practice while asking for water conservation.

“Watering lawns at nighttime is where we see the problem developing,” Vest said. “And also, washing cars in the driveway uses a ton of water, anywhere from 50 to 100 gallons every time someone washes their car.”

Vest advised going to a car wash rather than doing it at home.

“It’s much more efficient to go to one of the new car washes that uses reclaimed water, uses 60% less water.”

The rain in the forecast will help, but Brobeck estimates it will take several days of soaking rain plus conservation efforts to get the town’s tank back up to optimal levels.

Brobeck told News Channel 11 that he does not expect or want people to let their gardens or plants die, just cut back on unnecessary usage.

“I’m not asking people not to use water,” Brobeck said. “I’m just asking to maybe conserve a little bit, maybe hold off on watering their lawns and some vegetation. Maybe not water as much until we can get substantial rain and build our water reservoirs back up.”

The town does have plans to build a new water plant in the near future.

“We’ll be building a new water plant that can expand our capacity from really the 4 million gallons a day now up to potentially 8 million,” Vest said.

Vest added the new plant will help in case of a water line beak and help keep the reservoir tank at capacity.

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