JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – It has been about nine months since Third Party Administrator Ted Henifin took over the City of Jackson’s water system, and engineers said they’re making progress with restoring the entire infrastructure system.
IMS Engineers is one of several engineering firms hired under Henifin’s leadership. When IMS started working with JXN Water in the spring, leaders started searching for the many leaks in the city’s water distribution system.
“We’ve driven every street in Jackson and identified all the leaks that we could at that time. The most important part is fixing the leaks to stabilize the system. If we have leaks, we have a loss of water, millions of gallons being lost. We have the risk of the other damage to the roads, and we have potential contamination,” said Rod Hill, president of IMS Engineers.
IMS is responsible for finding the leaks and assigning contractors to repair and replace the pipes as quickly as possible. The company said they’ve identified all the leaks in the system so far, but fixing one can often lead to another one forming.
“We’ve had some issues where we had to go back and repair. Maybe us fixing one area may have caused a pressurize somewhere else down the line. We’ve had to go back and revisit those,” explained George Ford, senior project manager at IMS Engineers.
The heat has also created some challenges. Contractors are not able to work long hours due to the recent extreme temperatures. They also must take extra safety precautions due to the heat.
“We recommend that they stay hydrated. We’re doing visual inspection. So, we allow them to take certain breaks when we’re not supposed to be doing full time inspections. Allowing them to take breaks and hydrate when they’re out there in that heat,” said Ford.
IMS officials said a lot of progress has been made, and people should notice a difference.
There is no set timeline on when the entire distribution system could be repaired, but leaders stress that rebuilding the crumbling infrastructure will not be an overnight fix.
IMS also encourages neighbors to continue reporting leaks to JXN Water to help speed up the process.