By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
17 minutes ago
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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
(27-01-2022, 09:13 AM)Levin Wrote: [ -> ]By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
17 minutes ago
......
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.
......
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
Cold countries have these problems of frozen water pipes and low water pressures.....we don't have this problem vexing us....
The whole USA is in a mess!
Why the local government doesn’t perform maintenance on their piping system? Where did they spent their money?
(27-01-2022, 04:19 PM)kangtangman Wrote: [ -> ]Why the local government doesn’t perform maintenance on their piping system? Where did they spent their money?
Must be squandered away............
(27-01-2022, 04:19 PM)kangtangman Wrote: [ -> ]Why the local government doesn’t perform maintenance on their piping system? Where did they spent their money?
Small tax base as stated in the article as the whites leave the city due to integration with blacks. So not enough tax income to maintain the city.
(27-01-2022, 04:25 PM)debono Wrote: [ -> ]Must be squandered away............
So looks like the Americans are just as corrupted as those Asians that they always claim.
(27-01-2022, 04:27 PM)Levin Wrote: [ -> ]Small tax base as stated in the article as the whites leave the city due to integration with blacks. So not enough tax income to maintain the city.
Surely the taxes collected year before they leave the city should be around. So could this be a mismanaged?
(27-01-2022, 04:28 PM)kangtangman Wrote: [ -> ]So looks like the Americans are just as corrupted as those Asians that they always claim.
Everyone who noses pointed to the ground is subject to corruption.......
(27-01-2022, 04:29 PM)kangtangman Wrote: [ -> ]Surely the taxes collected year before they leave the city should be around. So could this be a mismanaged?
That was 1969. They started leaving in 1970. Whatever collected then most probably spent leow.
(27-01-2022, 04:30 PM)debono Wrote: [ -> ]Everyone who noses pointed to the ground is subject to corruption.......
I have to agree with you on that point. Whether they are highly paid or not.
(27-01-2022, 04:39 PM)Levin Wrote: [ -> ]That was 1969. They started leaving in 1970. Whatever collected then most probably spent leow.
So what you’re saying is that with that mass move out since the 70’s the local government has been running in the reds. Which resulted them not collecting enough to run their states well. That’s sad.
(28-01-2022, 03:32 AM)kangtangman Wrote: [ -> ]So what you’re saying is that with that mass move out since the 70’s the local government has been running in the reds. Which resulted them not collecting enough to run their states well. That’s sad.
Cities, not states. The whites moved to the suburbs. Just stating what was in the article. Not sure when they started to go into the red too. I think the movement to the suburbs is gradual over the years rather than one big move.
(28-01-2022, 06:13 AM)Levin Wrote: [ -> ]Cities, not states. The whites moved to the suburbs. Just stating what was in the article. Not sure when they started to go into the red too. I think the movement to the suburbs is gradual over the years rather than one big move.
Thanks for the clarification. Shouldn't the state be helping the city by providing some maintenance funds?
If the state can't, surely the central government should be able to? And if their government can't, something is just not right with their reserves.
And it only goes to show that America is just good to look on the surface but as poor as any other 3rd world country right?
(28-01-2022, 07:29 AM)kangtangman Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the clarification. Shouldn't the state be helping the city by providing some maintenance funds?
If the state can't, surely the central government should be able to? And if their government can't, something is just not right with their reserves.
And it only goes to show that America is just good to look on the surface but as poor as any other 3rd world country right?
Well, all this is supposed to happen but maybe the federal govt is overstretched.
US has a very huge expenditure. Their biggest expenditure is on Medicare, Medicaid and social security as funds like Medicare is underfunded. Social security includes unemployment benefits and welfare.
What is left will be for those discretionary spending and more than half of it is spent on "defense" (actually more like "offense"). US allocates more money to military spending than the next 10 countries combined.
Next will be interest payments on its huge national debt. These interest payments are the fourth largest budget items in the fiscal budget.
Source:
https://www.itsuptous.org/blog/breaking-...%20welfare.