Qualla: When the Taps Ran Dry: Jackson's Water Crisis https://qualla.com/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:04 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/x/z/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: When the Taps Ran Dry: Jackson's Water Crisis https://qualla.com/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis When the Taps Ran Dry: Jackson's Water Crisis: Introduction https://qualla.com/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis/ Photo credit Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC0. Fifty-five breaks per hundred miles of water line, every year, for five straight years. That was the rate at which Jackson, Mississippi's aging pipes were failing between 2017 and 2021, nearly four times what engineers consider safe. Half the water the city pumped into the ground never reached a meter. By the time the Pearl River surged over its banks in late August 2022 and overwhelmed the O. B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant, the system had been hemorrhaging for so long that collapse was not a surprise but an inevitability. For roughly 150,000 residents of Mississippi's capital, the taps simply stopped producing safe water, and the question shifted from whether the infrastructure would fail to how long recovery would take.

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/x/z/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-wp/9vxz-when-the-taps-ran-dry-jacksons-water-crisis-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full When the Taps Ran Dry: Jackson's Water Crisis: A System Already on Life Support https://qualla.com/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis/ Photo credit Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC0. Jackson's water network serves more than 71,000 connections across 150 square miles, drawing from the Ross Barnett Reservoir and the Pearl River through two treatment plants: the O. B. Curtis and the J. H. Fewell. By 2022, both were in dire condition. A failed EPA inspection in 2...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/x/z/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-wp/9vxz-when-the-taps-ran-dry-jacksons-water-crisis-a-system-already-on-life-support.mp3 0:06 2 full When the Taps Ran Dry: Jackson's Water Crisis: The Pearl River Rises https://qualla.com/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis/ Photo credit Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC0. In late August 2022, severe storms sent the Pearl River cresting on August 29, and it did not fall below flood stage until September 1. The flooding forced the Curtis plant to take in a surge of water from the Barnett Reservoir, overwhelming its already compromised treatment proc...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/x/z/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-wp/9vxz-when-the-taps-ran-dry-jacksons-water-crisis-the-pearl-river-rises.mp3 0:06 3 full When the Taps Ran Dry: Jackson's Water Crisis: The Long Road Back https://qualla.com/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis/ Photo credit Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC0. On September 4, officials announced that adequate water pressure had been restored to most of the system. By September 15, the boil advisory was withdrawn, though health officials still urged precautions for pregnant women and children. The relief proved fragile. On September 26,...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/x/z/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-wp/9vxz-when-the-taps-ran-dry-jacksons-water-crisis-the-long-road-back.mp3 0:06 4 full When the Taps Ran Dry: Jackson's Water Crisis: Fault Lines Beneath the Pipes https://qualla.com/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis/ Photo credit Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC0. The crisis exposed fractures far deeper than corroded infrastructure. Jackson is approximately 80 percent Black, with 25 percent of residents living below the poverty line. Decades of white flight to suburbs like Madison and Ridgeland shrank the tax base while state legislators r...

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]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/x/z/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-wp/9vxz-when-the-taps-ran-dry-jacksons-water-crisis-fault-lines-beneath-the-pipes.mp3 0:06 5 full