Water, Waste, & Wastewater - Part I

"Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink." - Lexington, Alabama, Summer of 2006

It was late June in 2006, and the citizens of Rascaltown had been without water for over four weeks; to be more exact they had been without water pressure in the pipes that connected their homes to the Lexington, Alabama, water lines that served them. Residents toted buckets three miles to Blue Water Creek to secure water to flush their toilets and bathed their children with moist baby wipes. Temperatures soared, but there was no end in sight.

Tad Cole, Lexington Water Department Manager, assured the 50 affected families that the situation was only temporary, but as weeks dragged on and temperatures continued to rise, the citizens of Rascaltown approached members of the media for help. That was when Tim Shelton became aware of the community's plight.

The owner of Springfield Premium Water, Shelton provided Lexington with wholesale water, as well as distributing bottles of his product to retail outlets. The Springfield businessman immediately loaded a truck with five-gallon bottles of water (pictured above) and sent them to Rascaltown free of charge. Thereafter, he continued to send a tanker of water twice a week until the situation was resolved.

Unfortunately, resolution didn't come until the town of Lexington itself was plunged into the same waterless plight as the dog days of summer took hold. Only then did Mayor Herman Jaggers and members of the water and sewer boards take action. That was almost three years ago, and judging by current Mayor Bobby McGuire's recent public statements concerning continuing water problems in Lexington, Tim Shelton is still not being credited with his unprecedented altruism in an almost untenable situation.

However, McGuire's mindset isn't that rare in a town where water problems date back to the 1960s. Lexington, Alabama's water woes have been 50 years in the making, and for the past decade have focused on the blame game. Like a beleagured CEO addressing stockholders, Bobby McGuire again this week spoke of improvement and the good times that are just around the corner, but are they really?


Tomorrow: The genesis of the white elephant known as Lexington Water & Sewer