Large crowd expected for emergency water meeting in Stockton Thursday night

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STOCKTON, Utah — The town of Stockton in Tooele County is up against several critical water issues heading into an emergency meeting with the town council and mayor Thursday.

Right now, residents must boil their water, as the town considers costly repairs or replacement of its water treatment plant.

The town council scheduled an emergency meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday at the community ballpark because they’re expecting a crowd bigger than they can handle at Town Hall.

Stockton, with nearly 700 residents and 270 water hookups, has several problems with its water supply that need to be addressed. In addition to the boil order, residents are not allowed to water outside.

The devastating Jacob City wildfire in early July put this issue on the front burner. Stockton was already facing problems with its aging water treatment plant which was built in 1985.

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The debris flows after that wildfire put the treatment plant out of commission. The city has been using water from its emergency well during the last month. The power for that well failed, and the town is back to using water from the treatment plant with residents boiling the water.

“The treatment plant is at the end of its life. Like a car, you can only change the oil so many times before you need to replace the car,” said Nando Meli, Mayor of Stockton.

That’s expensive, especially for a town with a small budget. A study conducted for Stockton several years ago estimated treatment plant repairs at $2.6 million, and replacement of the facility at more than $3 million.

The mayor knows a lot of people are upset. In his letter calling for the emergency meeting, he warned everybody that they might face a steep hike in their water rate. He said he did that to catch the public’s attention, and to emphasize how serious the problem is.

The most immediate issue is working with the Utah Division of Drinking Water to make sure that they can get that treatment facility working sooner rather than later.