The drinking water warning in southwest Iowa ended 15 days after it first went into effect.
Southern Iowa Rural Water Association announced 1:15 p.m. Saturday that the Rural Ringgold Area (058), the final area remaining under the drinking water warning, was released from the warning, meaning all areas that had been under the warning now have safe drinking water.
Twelve cities and rural areas were released from the drinking water warning Friday afternoon. That left just the Rural Ringgold Area, an area that starts in southern Union County and goes south past Diagonal, covering all of southern Ringgold County and parts of Taylor and Decatur counties, as the only area left to be released.
The drinking water warning for southwest Iowa first went into effect 8 a.m. Friday, June 1, as a result of failing membrane filters at the 12-Mile Water Treatment Plant. New membranes arrived at the plant and were installed on Wednesday, June 6, which started the process of producing potable water and delivering good water throughout SIRWA’s system.
SIRWA General Manager Dan McIntosh said in an interview with the CNA Thursday morning that SIRWA staff expected to have the warning lifted by Monday or Tuesday, but SIRWA staff was able to clear the final area Saturday, ahead of schedule.
“I’d really like to thank all of the SIRWA staff for their determination and hard work getting through this drinking water advisory,” McIntosh said in a Saturday press release. “I’d also like to thank the staff at the Creston Water Works for keeping the treatment plant running smoothly.”
McIntosh also thanked Kevin Glick, owner of Service Techs in Creston, who volunteered his time and fuel to fly the water samples to Storm Lake on multiple occasions, which allowed customers to be released from the warning sooner than they would have been if samples were driven to Storm Lake.