High temperatures and drought conditions put strain on Nashville water system

Six days of temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, combined with ongoing drought conditions, caused the city of Nashville’s water system to not be able to keep up with demand last week.  Public Works Director Larry Dunaway said the city is able to distribute more than five million gallons of water a day, but that didn’t keep up with the usage last week.  He says a number of factors, including a high usage by Nashville Rural Water, led to the issue:

Through the process, Nashville officials also learned of a planned enhancement by the local Tyson Foods processing plant. Tyson has informed officials they expect to increase production at the Nashville plant by  25 percent, which will result in 130 additional chicken houses being built.  It’s possible that some of those could become a part of the Nashville Rural Water system.  Tyson’s planned expansion is scheduled to be complete in 2024.   Dunaway says that will lead to even more water being used, so now is the time for city officials to start the process of increasing the output of treated water:

Engineers are to begin working with city officials today to begin studying the needs.