FERRIDAY — The Town of Ferriday will shut down its water intake for approximately seven hours while the new water tank is filled and tested today, but that shouldn’t affect the average water customer.

In a notice to all Ferriday water customers, Mayor Glen McGlothin said the shutdown will be done to test and perform any repairs that are needed on the water retention tank at the town water treatment plant.

It shouldn’t affect water customers, however, because the town’s gravity flow water tower will be holding approximately 500,000 gallons of water at the time of the switch over, Town Coordinator Charles Lincecum said.

“There will be water in town, there will be water pressure in town, there will just not be water coming to the (water treatment) plant until we make the switch over,” Lincecum said.

Some have become concerned that the switch over will cause the entire water system to shut down and that all water service will be cut off, but Lincecum said that’s because there has been a confusion of terms.

“The water retention tank (at the plant) is a completely different animal than the gravity flow water tank in town, it is not the same thing and people are thinking we are going to cut the water off,” he said. “All we are going to be doing is not taking water into this water retention tank. The water retention tank is what it goes into before it is treated.”

In addition to the half-million gallons of water that have already been through the treatment plant being stored in the tower tank, the 15 water buffalos around town — each holding 500 gallons of water — will also be full, he said.

With that in mind, Lincecum said the town would appreciate it if water customers would use water conservatively during the day.

“People would need to use common sense and conserve – you don’t need to fill your pool, please don’t be watering your yard, don’t be washing 20 cars in your driveway,” he said. “Conserve where you can and I don’t think we will have any problems.”

Getting the new water retention tank at the plant hooked up is a crucial step to getting the boil-water order the Department of Health and Hospitals has placed the town under lifted.

The new tank is a replacement for an older tank that has a large hole in it. Once the switchover is completed, the town will discontinue use of the old tank.