Jackson water tanks are being refilled as residents continue to experience low water pressure

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The water woes continue for south Jackson residents waiting for full pressure to return to their taps.

For some, it’s been more than a week of low water pressure. City officials say they are making headway with repairs and are working to resolve issues with the water system.

“It just breaks my heart. It just breaks my heart to live in this city,” said Jerry Fields.

He is one of hundreds of south Jackson residents who lined up in the Cash Saver parking lot Thursday for bottled water being distributed by the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition and the City of Jackson. The 65-year-old said water has been dripping slowly at his home for about two weeks.

“I can’t understand why the city can’t figure out with the engineers that they have,” said Fields. “I used to work for the city, used to work for the water department. Back then we didn’t have this problem like this.”

Jackson City Engineer Dr. Charles Williams said the problems were related to water main breaks and operational issues at the water treatment plant. Repairs have been made to the one on McWillie Circle. Monday it caused a school bus to fall into a giant sink hole.

Williams said other related breaks on St. Charles, Capitol and Deer Park Streets have also been fixed. According to the city engineer, the city has resolved operational issues at the water treatment plant that were impacting water flow to south Jackson.

South Jackson resident Chris Wansley was also picking up a case of bottled water. He’s had low water pressure for the last four days.

“It happens so frequently until it’s just not even a big issue anymore, but it is tiresome,” said Wansley. “It is tiresome when you’ve got other areas such as Clinton and Pearl that don’t go through these issues. It’s the same repetitive issues.”

Williams said the city is now getting the plants system recharged and refilling water tanks. He offered no timeline on when that will be completed.

More water will be distributed to south Jackson residents Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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