Village of Ontonagon residents advised to let water run for at least 40 days

Beginning at noon today, water customers within the Village Limits of Ontonagon are being asked to let their water run until further notice.

Water customers should run a pencil size stream from only one faucet, with a flow rate of about a half gallon per minute. Residents will be billed their average rate for the duration of the let run period. Charges will be added if let run usage exceeds the average consumption by more than 22,000 gallons a month.

The Village of Ontonagon has experienced an increasing number of frozen water services, frozen sewers mains, and water main breaks in the past two weeks. Some of the freeze ups have occurred in areas where there have never been frost problems before. After discussing the situation with the Village Manager, the DPW Superintendent, and the Water Plant Superintendent, Village President Bill Johnson declared the situation as an emergency and authorized the water let run for residents in the village.

“The emergency declaration is necessary to protect our water system from further damage and maintain water service for Village residents. The Village had hoped to deal with freeze ups on a case by case basis, but the prolonged cold weather this winter is getting to the point of overwhelming our ability to keep up. It’s been through the hard work of our Public Works crew that’s allowed us to hold off on a Village wide let run for as long as we did,” said Bill Johnson, Village President.

Residents are reminded to not to shut off their water, even if the weather warms up. There is still frost in the ground and services can still freeze up. The Village will announce when the let run advisory is stopped. The Village anticipates that the let run will continue for the next 40 to 60 days.

Village water customers in White Pine, Silver City, and along M-64 will be advised individually by the Village as to whether or not they should let their water run. This let run advisory is for residents of the Village of Ontonagon only. Anyone with questions should contact the Village Office at 884-2305.