Independence has been without water for 12 hours. When will it turn back on?
Nearly 12 hours after a power outage at Independence’s Courtney Bend Water Plant, city officials have announced that residents should expect to be without water or have low water pressure for the rest of the night.
Power started to turn back on at the water plant just after 7 p.m. Monday, Rebecca Gannon, a spokesperson for the city, said in an email to The Star .
“Turning the power on is part of the process — and this is a complex system,” Gannon said. “We have to get everything in the right order at the right time to make sure it all works correctly.”
Gannon said that while officials recognize the community relies on Independence for water, “we do not want to rush this.”
Officials estimate it will take “several hours” for water pressure to return to normal, Gannon said, and will likely occur overnight .
While also relying on Kansas City water to aid with water pressure, Independence is still under a boil water advisory, Gannon said. The city is advising customers to bring water to a rolling boil for three to five minutes, then letting it cool before consumption.
Residents will be notified when the boil advisory is lifted.
Preventative maintenance leads to power outage
The city was performing preventative maintenance at the water plant Monday morning when a transformer failed, Gannon previously told The Star.
City crews took one of the plant’s two transformers offline to rebuild it last Thursday, Gannon said. On Monday, the plant’s second transformer failed, leaving the plant without a backup.
Officials are still investigating why the transformer failed, Gannon said.
The Independence School District canceled classes at all of its buildings Monday after the transformer failure left buildings without running water, according to a Facebook post.
Students will return to school Tuesday, the district said in a Facebook post Monday evening.
Independence also provides water to other cities in eastern Jackson and Lafayette counties, Gannon said. The city of Oak Grove issued a boil advisory Monday after the power outage at the plant.
In Oak Grove, free cases of water will be available at City Hall from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday while supplies last, according to a Facebook post. Only one case of water will be issued per household.
The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton and Nathan Pilling contributed reporting.
