Storm Lake is under a state of emergency due to major problems at the northwest Iowa city’s water treatment plant. Thursday afternoon, a second filter collapsed at the plant…resulting in an additional loss in available water capacity for the city. The failure follows the loss of a filter last week. The plant has four filters. City officials Thursday met with major water users and began plans for a complete shutdown of both local packing plants until repairs to the filters can be made. Attempts will be made today to repair the filter that failed yesterday. If the temporary repair is successful, three filters will be in operation and industry will be able to resume production. It’s expected to take one or two days to make repairs…if the repair is successful. Meanwhile, mandatory water conservation measures that were already in place have been increased. All outdoor watering and car washing have been banned and residents are being asked to conserve indoor water use.
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