State, local officials provide update on Whitehall water

WHITEHALL, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The Village of Whitehall is still in a state of emergency since it’s been without drinkable water since Sunday night. Officials from the village and the state provided updates on the situation.

The Village of Whitehall has seen some water return, at low pressure, however they are still warning people, do not drink the water. A boil water advisory is still in effect. Water conservation restrictions are still in place. 

Many residents have been resourceful and are getting creative while coming up with their own short-term solutions, like Erick Ericksen who is the maintenance technician at a senior living facility.

“As soon as we found out that there was an emergency, we started with snow. And it didn’t take me very long to realize the snow would have to be melted. So I found anything I could find to put water in, coolers, garbage cans, 5 gallon pails, I mean, you can see them all down here anything that would hold water,” said Ericksen.

Ericksen wonders how long they have to maintain this way. “We are doing the best we can,” he said.

Village Mayor Francis Putorti said the investigation into the issue is ongoing, adding a week ago they noticed pressure was getting low.

“We saw that the levels were coming down a bit but I didn’t think it was that serious, coming in new into this. We have one tank that has 500,000 gallons in it, the other 750,000 gallons. Then we realized we have a problem with the uses of water. So we’re trying to get that under control,” said Putorti.

Pine Lake is the only source of water for 3,200 people living in 12,000 homes. 

“The valve, the inlet, is down about 12 feet right now. We did have a diver go in and clean the valve off and we picked up some, maybe 15 gallons more per minute by cleaning the valve off. We’re used to getting 500 gallons per minute and now we’re getting about 230 gallons per minute,” said Putorti.

The New York State Office of Emergency Management is on-site actively working on solutions, complicated by the drought. Director Matt Franklin explains how they corral resources across state agencies. 

“The DEC has been on site. The Department of Health is involved with their water experts that have experience and knowledge in both of those. They’re having those conversations as to how they can best manage and move forward,” said Franklin.

The team has brought light towers for the crews working at the lake, message boards, bottled water and tankers of potable water. 

“As part of the solution, the town and the village have reached out to a contractor and an engineering firm to work on what else they might be able to do to supplement water,” said Franklin.

He said they will stay in the village until the issue is resolved. Again, it is not yet safe to drink the water, officials are urging residents to pick up potable water at the fire department. And for those who need water delivered, contact the village office from 8:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. at 518-499-0871.