Issues with City of Waukon water system following February 13 fire further addressed by City Manager

by Joe Moses

Waukon City Manager Gary Boden provided an update to The Standard relating to Waukon’s water system challenges in conjunction with the Sunday, February 13 evening fire on Allamakee Street. Two buildings were destroyed and several other adjacent buildings affected by the fire originating from the building at 9 Allamakee Street housing Tin, Rust & Harmony, a new business opened in December 2021 - the previous location of Lucky Finds Consignment.

The fire investigation and clean-up of adjacent impacted businesses continues. Although calls to the State of Iowa Fire Marshal’s Office in charge of the investigation had not been returned as of press time for this edition of The Standard, local authorities say the areas in front of and in back of the buildings destroyed in the blaze have been fenced off for safety and ongoing investigative measures.

In his update regarding water issues, Boden explained that Waukon’s water system and pumps within that system were heavily burdened in fighting the downtown fire. He advised that, normally, one-third of a million gallons of water would be used by industry and residents within Waukon in an average 24-hour period, but in comparison, the February 13 downtown fire required over one million gallons alone in that time frame by the area fire departments fighting the blaze. Boden further noted that the Decorah Fire Department’s aerial truck used 60,000 gallons of water per hour in fighting the downtown fire.

As a result of the increased water use by area fire departments in fighting the blaze, two electric water pumps were damaged from running at significantly higher than normal operational levels and could not maintain sufficient water supply in the north water tower in the Allamakee County Fairgrounds, where water levels became significantly low and negatively impacted water pressure typically supplied by that tower. As a precaution, City of Waukon Water and Sewer Superintendent Jim Cooper called for a boil order of water from the City’s water system early in the morning of Monday, February 14 due to significantly low water pressure potentially creating an environment allowing for bacteria leaching or growth.

Boden noted that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was in agreement that a boil order was necessary and confirmed that Cooper’s action was the right thing to do. Boden also noted the City of Waukon Water Department manually introduced chlorine into the water system as a disinfection precaution following the decrease in water pressure.

Boden further advised that as part of the water testing process required with the boil order, water samples were taken at five testing points around the city that Monday with initial results showing chlorine at DNR-recommended safety levels. Boden said that while the City was confident that safety standards were being met, per regulations water samples were transported by City personnel to a DNR-approved testing facility in Waterloo. That facility provided results within a 10- to 16-hour window, as expected, and the safe testing results reported allowed for the boil order to be lifted the morning of Tuesday, February 15, with residents and businesses able to resume normal water use after following some recommended water system flushing procedures.

Boden also noted the assistance provided by Waukon City Council member John Lydon, owner of Lydon Electric Motors in Waukon, was helpful in repairing the two electric water pumps most affected by the increased water use during the downtown building fire. Boden said that both of the repaired water pumps are still functional at this time but will need to be replaced in the near future.

Boden further explained that the north water tower and south water tower provide redundancy in keeping water available to residents and businesses. He noted that the downtown fire and increased water use temporarily caused low water pressure throughout the entire community, with some locations experiencing more issues with their water pressure than others, ranging from no water at all to very little, if any, change in the actual water pressure in homes or businesses.