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Caroline County utility director outlines tank work and responds to localized flushing incident
Summary
County utilities staff reviewed water‑tank maintenance and mixer installations, outlined plans for additional storage tanks, and described a recent localized water‑quality incident caused during a tank refill in Lady Smith that staff flushed and said they will address with revised procedures and better customer notifications.
Caroline County's director of public utilities briefed the board March 10 on recent and planned water‑system work, including internal tank cleaning, mixers to reduce thermal stratification, and scheduled repainting and construction of two new storage tanks to increase system redundancy.
He said crews installed mixers in several tanks to prevent a seasonal thermal flip that can degrade water quality. The county expects to add two tanks in the next two years (one 500,000‑gallon tank and another 300,000‑gallon tank in different service zones) to reduce service vulnerabilities when any single tank is taken offline for maintenance.
The director also described a recent localized water‑quality incident in the Lady Smith area that temporarily clogs filters and discolored water for one business. During a refill and equalization between tanks, he said, a surge of flow likely scoured manganese and polymer deposits from the bottom of a 12‑inch main near Route 1; staff performed multiple rounds of flushing and filter changes over two nights to restore service.
"We spent two nights out there flushing for three or four hours really hard trying to remove anything that was in there and it seems like that has helped tremendously," the director said. He recommended night‑time cutovers for future tank switches, slower feed rates when refilling, and Carolina Alert notices and temporary signage to warn customers of planned flushing events.
The board praised utility staff for rapid response to the affected customer and asked staff to make advance notifications standard practice. Staff also reiterated the county's 24‑hour utility contact number (804‑633‑4386) for after‑hours reports.
Why it matters: The episode illustrates how routine maintenance can interact with distribution conditions to produce localized water‑quality problems; staff changes in procedure aim to limit recurrence and to improve customer notification.
— Reporting from the March 10, 2026 Caroline County Board of Supervisors meeting.
