LOUISVILLE, Ky. — City of Bardstown officials have declared there is a water shortage emergency in the area.
In a post on social media, Bardstown officials asked that all non-essential uses of water stop so they can conserve the "water to the best of their ability."
UPDATE: As of Friday morning, the water shortage emergency has lifted. More information here.
"This call extends to industries, businesses, and all citizens," they said in a Facebook post. "Please use water only for essential needs until our system is fully repaired."
Despite this, they said the water is still safe to drink.
They said the water treatment plant experienced "weather-related equipment failure" early Wednesday morning.
Bardstown City administrator Aaron Boles said a pipe burst at the water treatment plant due to the bitterly cold temperatures.
"It basically flooded the basement level of that, of the plant, which includes some of the pumps we use, and the water treatment process," he said.
While the plant is back up and running, Boles said crews are playing a game of catch up, treating water as fast as they can, and still down two water pumps.
He hoped the call to conserve water can reach all 10,000 plus customers using the city's water, stretching all the way from Bardstown to parts of Bloomfield and LaRue County.
"As long as we can get some water conservation measures in place by our customers, there really shouldn't be too much of an impact," Boles said.
He added a contractor will examine the water pumps currently out of commission on Thursday morning.
Until then, Boles urged the community to be conservative with their faucets.
"If we can't catch up and start refilling our tanks fast enough, we could be in a water situation," he said.
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