City of Stillwater thanks OSU for support to address water supply
Mike Seals - February 18, 2021 9:50 pm
(STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA / Feb. 18, 2021) – City of Stillwater leaders thanked Oklahoma State University Thursday for helping the City maintain its water supply after low temperatures and a power outage caused pumps to freeze at Kaw Lake, the source of Stillwater’s water.
“We appreciate OSU helping us through this crisis,” said Stillwater Major Will Joyce. “It is yet another example of the many ways the City and OSU partner and support each other to protect and serve our community.”
“Without OSU’s help, we would have seen significant water outages for our customers,” said City Manager Norman McNickle. “President Burns Hargis and the entire OSU team deserve our utmost gratitude. They really came to our rescue. Through our Mutual Aid Agreements with OSU, we can quickly support each other in times of need.”
Once the frozen pumps were restored at Kaw Lake early Thursday morning, the City’s raw water storage caused alarmingly low levels of water throughout the system. A main line break at 19th Avenue and Jardot Road added to the problem. OSU pumped two million gallons of treated water into the City’s system.
The City expects its water supply to be fully recovered by Friday morning.
“I also want to thank our City crews for their tireless efforts through this incident, and the work they have done all week to serve Stillwater in extreme cold conditions,” McNickle said.
