HYSHAM — After over half a year of being told not to consume the water after a loss of filtration at the water plant in Hysham, residents were told on Dec. 8 that they can safely drink city water.
“It just felt like a really heavy weight off of me,” the owner of BW Grill & Bar BJ Schoelkopf, said on Wednesday. “Being able to do the dishes and stuff, and not having to buy water.”
Schoelkopf remained open during the do-not-consume advisory but said it wasn't a profitable seven months. He is happy to be back cooking his full menu, especially as the Southeast Montana Burger Trail, which his restaurant is on, recently launched a new passport program.
“You can go to each of the restaurants, check in and get prizes,” Schoelkopf said.
Roy Long, the director of public works in Hysham, estimates the town spent around $700,000-$800,000 to get to where they are today with a fixed filtration system. In the original do-not-consume order, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said the town's filtration system was deficient, leading to concerns of contamination.
“We still got a little bit of work to do but we covered the major goals with getting the filter rebuilt and getting the SCADA system installed to help us operate the plant the way it needs to be,” Long said.
Long said it "was a huge relief" when he was notified that the "do not consume advisory" was downgraded to a "health advisory". The sign posted on the front door of the Hysham Town Hall with the downgraded information states:
"Although treatment has improved, our treatment system has not been able to meet treatment plant effluent turbidity requirements. We routinely monitor your water for turbidity (cloudiness). This tells us whether we are effectively filtering the water supply. Because of these high levels of turbidity, there is an increased chance that the water may contain disease-causing organisms."
Long said the water plant now has all the equipment they need to fix the turbidity issues.
“Really just a matter of a little bit of air getting into the lines and nothing that was actually affecting the treatment of the situation,” Long said.
The town also has a new mayor, Kenny Rolandson, after the previous mayor, Larry Fink, left office last summer. Both Long and Schoelkopf said the new mayor came in ready to fix the town's water problems.
“We got some new leadership, and we got the water plant going. It's just awesome,” Schoelkopf said.
