ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Many people woke up in Ashland City Wednesday morning to no water. The mayor said a broken chemical pump caused the water shutdown.
This forced students at STEM Academy and Riverside Academy to be dismissed at 9:30 Wednesday morning, and some businesses had to close.
Others were urged to conserve water, like Cody's Diner.
Ashland City issued an alert early in the morning that there was a water outage.
“I saw it on Facebook this morning, so I called the diner to see if they were open because this is our usual place for breakfast,” said Violet Scholes, a Cody’s Diner regular.
“Very glad to hear that they’re open this morning. A friend of mine went to Walmart. She said, 'I went to Walmart to buy groceries; I had to come back and go to Pleasant View to shop.' So, it does make a difference,” Scholes said.
The issue had some people wondering if there were chemicals in the water because of the social media post from the city.
“I did wonder; they said it was some kind of chemical in the water, and I was wondering what that was,” Scholes said.
The mayor said there are no chemicals in the water.
The Water Treatment Plant needed to repair its chemical pump, causing Wednesday morning’s water loss.
Clay Risner, the owner of Cody’s Diner, said the water woes slowed business down at the start of the day. But he said he needed to open — regulars were depending on him.
So, staff conserved as much water as they could and got to work.
“We're just using a little while we go, cut down on the dishwasher and you know, let it build up a little bit, and then well wash them and cut down on a little bit of water,” Risner said.
Risner believes the water issues slowed down business for him this morning because customers figured they would be closed.
Thankfully, by lunchtime, things started picking up again.
Mayor JT Smith said he hoped to have service restored to all customers by the end of the day on Wednesday.
The chemical has been repaired and crews are working to fill the water tanks.
