Winter Weather Water Woes

FEB. 18, 12PM ROGER KING, KOEL (OELWEIN WATER AND PARKING CONCERNS)

THE CITY OF OELWEIN IS RELEASING INFORMATION TO RESIDENTS, REGARDING FROZEN WATER SERVICE LINES.

DUE TO THE DRASTICALLY LOW TEMPS THIS WINTER, MANY OELWEIN RESIDENTS AND WATER CUSTOMERS HAVE EXPERIENCED FROZEN WATER SERVICE LINES. IN MANY OTHER COMMUNITIES, CITY UTILITY DEPARTMENTS DO NOT HELP WITH THAWING WATER LINES, HOWEVER THE OELWEIN CITY CREWS HAVE DEDICATED THEIR HELP TO RESIDENTS ON WORKING THROUGH THE PROCESS.

ACCORDING TO OELWEIN CITY OFFICIALS, THERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT FACTORS TO REMEMBER:

RECENT TESTS HAVE SHOWN FROST LEVELS REACHING BETWEEN FIVE AND SIX FEET DEEP.
CHECK YOUR WATER TEMPERATURE DAILY, AND IF IT IS LOWER THAN 40 DEGREES, CONTACT CITY HALL; PLUS RUN A FAUCET WITH A PENCIL-SIZE STREAM OF WATER, ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS.

IF YOU FIND YOUR WATER SERVICE IS FROZEN, CONTACT CITY HALL IMMEDIATELY; AT THIS TIME, IT COULD BE SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE WATER CAN BE RESTORED. AND IN SOME CASES, WARMER AIR TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE ONLY RELIEF TO THE PROBLEM.

KEEP TOILETS FLUSHING AND FUNCTIONING BY FILLING THE TANK WITH WATER.

THE CITY WILL EVALUATE WATER BILLS IF OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF YOUR SITUATION. CONTACT THEM IF YOU ARE CONTINUALLY RUNNING A FAUCET.

IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF DRINKING WATER, OR A SHOWER, CONTACT CITY HALL AND REGISTER. DRINKING WATER WILL THEN BE AVAILABLE AT THE OELWEIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, FROM 10-11AM OR 6-7PM; BRING YOUR OWN CONTAINER.

IF YOU WANT TO USE A SHOWER, YOU MAY GO TO THE WILLIAMS WELLNESS CENTER. HOURS VARY, SO CHECK THE OELWEIN CITY WEBSITE. YOU MUST BRING YOUR OWN TOWEL AND TOILETRIES, ONLY ONE SHOWER PER LOCKER ROOM, AND BE AWARE OF TIME CONSTRAINTS. AGAIN, YOU MUST FIRST REGISTER BY CALLING CITY HALL, AT 283-5440; THE NON-EMERGENCY NUMBER FOR THE OELWEIN POLICE DEPARTMENT IS 283-4311.

THE CITY OF OELWEIN HAS ALSO DECLARED A SNOW EMERGENCY, THAT WENT INTO EFFECT MONDAY EVENING, AND WILL RUN UNTIL 6PM TONIGHT (TUESDAY). ANY VEHICLES LEFT PARKED ON EMERGENCY SNOW ROUTES ARE SUBJECT TO BEING TOWED AWAY. PLUS ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING IS IN EFFECT FOR NON-SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTES. THE DECLARATION INCLUDES ALL CITY PARKING LOTS.

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