Over the last two years, we have had our water towers cleaned by a company called Liquid Engineering. This company has the ability to vacuum any sediment from the tanks and inspect the entire tank inside and out with an audio and video recording. A diver in a dry-suit is disinfected with a strong chlorine solution, and he enters the tank full of water while it is still in service. This service allows us to know just exactly what shape our tanks are in, and that they are free from any settling particles. In the past, we had to empty millions of gallons of water to perform this process.

Benton Utilities Electric Crew is on scene where the tree has fallen on our electric primary line. Customers in the areas of the Troutt Addition, King, and Rio Grande can expect to be without power until approximately 9 AM while our crew makes the necessary repairs.

The Benton Utilities Water Distribution Employees are on-site at the intersection of Richards St. and River St. here in the City with a damaged Fire Hydrant. They are currently working to get everything dug up to make the necessary repairs. At approximately 10 AM, they will have to close some valves decreasing the pressure in this area. Some customers on Richards, Gaunt and in the immediate area of Richards and River St. will notice little to no pressure during this time. We expect it to take 2-4 hours to make the repairs, after the water valves are closed.

Benton Utilities plans to convert many of the housing additions in our city to underground power as well. We feel that minimizing our exposure to elements that cause power failures will greatly reduce the number of outages we experience. BU will be going out for bids soon to purchase a horizontal drilling machine to convert these areas to underground power. It will be a long extended project, but will be worth the effort and wait in the end. BU is committed to providing our customers with the most reliable electricity at the most efficient price possible.