After 40 days without clean drinking water, the boil-water advisory in Jackson, Mississippi, was lifted yesterday. Around 150,000 residents in the city had been under a boil water advisory since July, and severe flooding in August only worsened the water system’s problems.
Conditions are so bad that Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R), who agree on little else, agree that Jackson needs a new water operator. Gov. Reeves raised the possibility of water privatization at a recent press conference:
“I’m open to all options. Privatization is on the table,” Reeves said. “Having a commission that oversees failed water systems