Hamilton suffers water crisis

HAMILTON — The City of Hamilton endured quite the weekend as residents were notified of an extreme contamination issue in Hamilton’s water system on Thursday, Aug. 24, at 8:29 p.m.
According to Hamilton Mayor Bob Page, the city’s water and sewer department observed silt in the water, causing a major issue for the treatment plant.
“We found mud in the river—silt mud—it was unexpected,” said Page.
“Someone had a pond dam break, and it flowed downstream and finally reached the river.”
Marion County EMA Director Eric Terrell confirmed that a pond dam break happened on a farm just south of Hackleburg, causing silt to enter into Hamilton’s main source of water.
“The river began to get muddy (and then) it finally reached our treatment plant, and it’s so severe that we couldn’t treat the water and purify it,” said Page.
Hamilton Fire Department, Hamilton Water and Sewer and Marion County EMA Director Eric Terrell worked to locate the source of the water crisis.