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Like many older cities around the U.S., Jackson faces more water system problems than it can afford to fix. The tax base of Mississippi’s capital has eroded over the past few decades as the population has decreased — the result of mostly white flight to suburbs that began after public schools integrated in 1970. The city’s population is now more than 80% Black, with about 25% of residents living in poverty.
After arctic weather blanketed parts of the South last February, equipment froze in a Jackson water treatment plant. For weeks, tens of thousands of people were left with no running water or water pressure that was dangerously low. The city ran distribution sites where people brought buckets to pick up water to bathe or flush toilets. The National Guard helped distribute cases of drinking water, and volunteers delivered bottled water to people without access to transportation.
When water pressure drops, there’s a possibility that untreated groundwater can enter a water system through cracked pipes, so customers are told to boil water to kill potentially harmful bacteria. Jackson customers had to boil their water for a month after the problems in 2021.
The city is experiencing water woes again this week because temperatures dipped below freezing and caused problems with membranes in a treatment plant. Crews have been scrambling to fix newly broken pipes, and several Jackson schools closed for in-person instruction because they had no water or low pressure.
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In addition to water pressure, Jackson has also had water quality problems for years. Because of concerns about lead levels, the city has long told people to avoid using hot tap water for drinking or cooking and to only use filtered or bottled water for baby formula.
Much more in full report at: https://apnews.com/article/business-envi...3b01e12ec2