JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A severe cold snap earlier this week sent JEA into overdrive as they scrambled to handle a month’s worth of service calls in just 72 hours.
The start of the week saw the utility field more than 3,000 calls related to water cutoffs, service leaks, and poor pressure.
“3,700 tickets for 35 people is difficult,” Kyle Schoettler, Director of Water/Wastewater Maintenance System Operations, said.
To manage the surge, the utility halted normal construction projects, redirecting all available personnel to emergency customer assistance.
According to Schoettler, approximately 1,800 of the reported issues were “no water” calls caused by frozen private plumbing rather than utility-side failures.
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“At some point throughout the event, the customer’s pipes froze because it either was not protected, or they did not leave any type of flow on the service,” Schoettler explained. He noted that while crews are still responding to small service leaks buried shallowly underground, there were no large main breaks impacting the broader system.
The volume of requests beat out previous records. During the major freeze on Christmas Eve in 2022, JEA received only 300 calls in the same timeframe.
Despite preparing by increasing staff beyond the typical seven weekend response crews, the sheer scale of this event was unexpected.
“The sheer volume of calls that we received in here during this event will affect the way that we staff in the future,” Schoettler said, adding that JEA aims to ensure they are fully prepped from a “delivery collection” standpoint.
Moving forward, JEA will continue to emphasize customer preparation, including covering exposed pipes and installing insulation. Leaving faucets on a slow drip during sub-freezing temperatures to prevent freezing. As well as improving communication protocols with partner agencies like the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.
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