GROVELAND, FL — Earlier this afternoon, the City of Groveland’s Sunshine Water Plant experienced a brief outage lasting approximately 30 minutes. The outage was caused by software used to automatically operate the plant’s pumps, which shut the pumps off.
During the outage, water pressure temporarily dropped for residents in neighborhoods along Wilson Lake Parkway and Cherry Lake Road. City crews were able to manually restart the pumps, and the pumps continue to operate manually. Water pressure has since stabilized across the affected area.
As required by the state, a precautionary boil water advisory remains in effect while water samples are collected and tested. The City expects testing results Sunday morning, at which time the advisory is expected to be lifted if results confirm the water is safe.
Staff does not believe there was any intrusion that would pose a public health concern. However, the City must maintain the precautionary advisory until the required testing is completed.
Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 residents were impacted by the brief outage. This is a preliminary estimate.
The City understands residents’ concerns and frustrations, particularly after a similar issue affected the same general area last week. The City recognizes the need for upgrades to prevent future disruptions and is actively pursuing the necessary repairs.
The City Manager has directed Woodard & Curran Operations to continue operating the Sunshine Water Plant manually while a permanent solution is pursued. Woodard & Curran has also been directed to expedite the necessary work to replace the problematic Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
The City will continue to provide updates on the status of the precautionary boil water advisory through its normal communication channels.
