(FLORISSANT, Colo.) — A recent lightning strike has severely impacted the community of Florissant, leaving neighbors struggling with a water outage. The strike caused significant damage to the local water and sewer treatment plant, leading to a disruption in water services.

Florissant Water and Sewer Treatment Plant

The systems operator at the Florissant Water and Sewer Treatment Plant, Tim Harper, reported that the lightning strike essentially “short-circuited” the plant’s computer systems.

“The lightning strike is really what started the whole thing,” Harper explained. “The system is like a computer. You turn it off so many times by just unplugging it, it starts corrupting the data.”

The lightning strike damaged the plant’s well pump and affected several other components, leaving crews to replenish the water supply.

“Our Crystal Peak Water Tank holds about 12 feet and at eight feet, people start losing a lot of pressure, which we’re at eight feet right now,” Harper said on Friday, Aug. 2.

The Florissant Board of Directors confirmed that the storm disabled their ability to provide outsourced water to the community. They provided FOX21 News with the following statement:

[The lightning strike] was confirmed by the local water/well pump specialist. This incident caused the plant to be down and we could not provide any out sourcing water to the community, but were able to provide water for the residences that are on the water treatment system. Without the pumps working in the well, we were unable to get water to fill the holding tank, but with help from the community of caring and Colorado Springs Utilities for delivering countless gallons of emergency water to us to keep the residents and community going. Thank you the residents and community for your patience and support. We had also been given bottled water which was donated by Arrowhead and has been delivered to the fire department and the local residents to help. This is still being delivered because a lot of people did not pick up and they delivered more, so we are delivering it.

Florissant Water Board

As a result, many community members faced a water outage lasting up to four days.

“The tanks were empty for four days, so we didn’t have water during that period,” Harper said.

Community members have voiced frustration over the ongoing water issues. Marion Clare, a Florissant resident, expressed that the problems extend beyond the recent strike.

“Our residents cannot drink this water, no matter how many filters you put on it,” Clare said.

Her husband, Harold Clare, serves on the Board of Directors and said their fourth-generation family living in Florissant continues to make sacrifices so the customers of the Florissant Water and Sanitation District can have access to water.

“They don’t have enough water, even now to supply us with the water we need to run our company,” Clare explained. “Being a concrete business, we consume the majority of the water in town so we’re having to haul water in ourselves separately so that the people of the district can have water.”

To mitigate the crisis, the Town of Florissant sought assistance from Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), which delivered more than 50,000 gallons of water to replenish the Crystal Peak Water Tank. They provided FOX21 News with the following statement.

We responded to Florissant’s call for water through COWARN (Colorado’s Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network). CoWARN is the state’s official channel for requesting mutual aid assistance for water and wastewater needs. We are happy to provide assistance to neighboring communities when possible. Costs associated with providing mutual aid are recovered, which ensures we can continue to be of service to others, as needed.

Amy Trinidad, Colorado Springs Utilities Public Relations Supervisor

Additionally, BlueTriton Brands has donated hundreds of cases of bottled water to the community and provided FOX21 News with the following statement.

BlueTriton Brands is committed to being a good neighbor in our communities. We are glad to be able to provide families in the Town of Florissant with healthy hydration through our bottled spring water donation.

Jeremy Allenbaugh, BlueTriton Brands Spring Specialist

BlueTriton Brands has donated hundreds of cases of bottled water to the community.

Harper emphasized the ongoing efforts to restore full water services.