Oak Harbor lifts water restrictions

Published 3:05 pm Wednesday, November 18, 2015

City of Oak Harbor officials imposed emergency restrictions on water use Tuesday night, asking residents to stop sending water down the pipes, after heavy rainfall coupled with a broken pump overwhelmed the wastewater treatment plant.

The treatment plant is now back to normal and residents can use water normally, said city engineer Joe Stowell.

During the worst of it, the city sent nearly 300,000 gallons of partially treated and chlorinated water into a holding area in the construction site for the new facility being built near the waterfront. That partially treated water is now being sent through the plant for treatment.

Stowell called the rain this week “a 50 to 100 year rainfall event.”