Fewer than three-tenths of an inch of rain recorded at Hot Springs Memorial Field in the last five weeks has strained capacity at the regional water system's two treatment plants.

According to production totals provided by the city, the 18.8 million gallons produced last July 1 was the highest production day of 2021, a mark that's been eclipsed eight times in the 11-day period that ended Sunday.

Hot Springs Utilities Director Monty Ledbetter said he expected production to surpass 20 million gallons by the end of the week. The Arkansas Department of Health rated the two plants' combined capacity at 25 million gallons a day, but Ledbetter said it's closer to 22 million gallons.

According to the Health Department's survey of the water system, 13 to 15 million gallons are needed to meet average day demand.

The 55-year-old Ouachita Plant on upper Lake Hamilton is rated for 21 million gallons a day, and the 75-year-old Lakeside Plant that treats water from the city reservoir at Lake Ricks has a 4 million-gallon a day rating. Some of the production cleans the 15 filters at the two plants, reducing the amount available for distribution.

"If we absolutely pushed everything we had, we could bump it to 23 mgd," Ledbetter said. "That's pushing it pretty hard."

Periods of hot weather and no rain can make Lake Ricks an unreliable raw water source, dropping it below the intake that feeds the Lakeside Plant.

"It's dangerous in a drought situation," Ledbetter said. "It can get really low. Three to 4 inches evaporate off of it every day, and there's not much being added to it. It takes a big toll."

The roughly one dozen tanks in a distribution system that sprawls across 145 square miles provide more than 11 million gallons of usable storage. Ledbetter said keeping them topped off is critical. Plant operators hope to gain ground at night, refilling tanks when demand is low, but Ledbetter said it's hard to make headway when a large number of customers water lawns and gardens after dark.

"When a lot of people start sprinkling at night is when we start to see the usage at night not allowing us to catch up and refill our tanks," Ledbetter said.

Operators are struggling to keep water levels near the 687-foot overflow elevation of the 500,000-gallon tank on Pilgrim Drive.

"It's a small tank in an area of high demand," Ledbetter said of the elevated tank serving customers in the Highway 70 west area.

The 1 acre the city acquired last year off North Moore Road will be the site of a 3 million-gallon, 200-foot tall tank for the area west of Lake Hamilton. It will be as large as the elevated tank that came on line in 2020 behind Cornerstone Market Place.

The Cornerstone tank is on the southeast end of the distribution system. Its distance from the Ouachita Plant at the northwest end makes it difficult to fill. The Music Mountain tank has to be valved off in order for the plant's high service pumps to push water to the top of the Cornerstone tank's 710-foot overflow elevation. The Music Mountain tank is the closest to the plant. Its pump station distributes water to the other tanks.

Ledbetter said Cornerstone hasn't been filled since it was tested in 2020.

"We're only able to use about half of our storage there," he said. "We have to shut valves off and pump directly to Cornerstone to get it filled. There's head loss. By the time the water gets to Cornerstone, there's not enough energy behind it to completely fill the tank."

Ledbetter said pumps at the 15 million-gallon a day plant the city will open bids for later this month can fill Cornerstone. The site near Amity Road is at the opposite end of the system from the Ouachita Plant. Ledbetter said the new plant should be online by 2024, increasing capacity by more than two-thirds.

"We'll have a lot more margin there once we get the water project finished up," Ledbetter, referring to the $106 million Lake Ouachita water supply project, said.

Production reached 80% of capacity more than 50 times during a similar weather pattern that took hold in the summer of 2012, leading to restrictions on utility extensions and connections in the unincorporated area of the water system. The restrictions remained in place until last year, when the city agreed to lift them in return for a per capita share of Garland County's sales tax growth.

The county said the city's 2021 share totaled almost $400,000.

Print Headline: Drought stresses existing water treatment plants

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