BRYAN, Ohio — In a statement issued Wednesday morning, Bryan Mayor Carrie M. Schlade confirmed repairs to the water treatment plant were successful and towers are recovering to normal levels.
In an effort to not overburden treatment systems, city officials asked the Bryan community to stagger their water usage Wednesday. According to the statement, residential and small businesses could resume normal water usage at 10 a.m. Industrial usage can resume at noon. All bathroom facilities could return to normal usage at 10 a.m.
Schlade also thanked the community for their patience and cooperation and industry leaders for their actions during the emergency.
The full statement from Schlade is included below:
The repairs at the water treatment plant were successful. Our towers are now recovering to normal levels. We would appreciate your patience to ensure we do not over burden our system, causing further issues. We are requesting that our community stager returning to normal water usage. Residential and small business customers can resume at 10:00 am. Industrial usage can resume at 12:00 pm, however, bathroom facilities may be utilized starting at 10:00 am.
We would like to thank our community members and industry leaders for their swift action to accommodate our emergency. If not for everyone’s diligence in water conservation, we would have depressurized our water system. This would have likely resulted in City of Bryan residents, small businesses and industrial customers having limited to no water use for several days.
We are very proud and thankful for our water department employees who worked through the night to restore our water service.
During this emergency we maintained contact with the Ohio EPA, following all regulations and recommendations. Again, there was never any indication of contamination or a threat of contamination to our public water system.
Again, thank you for your cooperation. Your actions were invaluable during this crisis.
The city of Bryan told residents to stop using water immediately Tuesday evening in a Facebook post due to a valve failure at the city's water treatment plant.
While the water is safe to drink and there is no evidence of contamination, the city is unable to pump water into the distribution system, city officials said in a statement. Residents and manufacturers should refrain from using water in order to keep the hospital supplied.
The city is working with Walmart to establish a contingency plan if necessary.
In an update posted to Facebook Wednesday morning, Bryan Municipal Utilities said the emergency continues and water towers have reached "critically low" levels. They stressed the importance of not using water; any usage will depressurize the water distribution system.
BMU officials said they have secured bottled water to distribute to the community. According to the Facebook post, BMU customers can pick up bottled water at the Bryan Fire Department located at 304 W. High Street from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday with proof of residency. Those who are homebound can call 419-633-6100 for water delivery.
In the post, authorities reiterated there is no evidence the water supply is contaminated and said employees worked overnight to continue water plant repairs.
More updates will be provided through Alert 86, the city of Bryan Municipal Utilities' Facebook page and through WTOL 11 as we receive them.
The city of Bryan, in Williams County, had an estimated population of 8,638 in 2021, according to U.S. Census data.
Full statement from the city of Bryan:
"Bryan Municipal Utilities has experienced a valve failure in their water treatment plant. At this point in time, we are unable to pump water into the distribution system. It is imperative that our community refrain from using water to avoid depressurizing the water system. As of right now, repairs are taking place but we are asking all manufacturers and residents alike to refrain from using water until updated directly from Bryan municipal utilities via Alert 86, local media outlets or city of Bryan BMU Facebook update. At this time, the water is safe to drink and there is no reason to believe it is contaminated."
This is a developing story. Stay with WTOL 11 for the latest updates.