Library closes for lack of running water

Without functioning sinks and toilets, Istachatta's library and the Bicentennial Hall community center are closed until August.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 18, 2000

ISTACHATTA -- The well has run dry at the county library in Istachatta.

As a result, readers living in the rural community who want to borrow books will need to visit one of the county's other library branches. The Health Department ordered the library closed because it lacked usable sinks and toilets, Library Services Director Barbara Shiflett said.

Bicentennial Hall, a community center attached to the library at 16357 Lingle Road, also was closed for the same reason, said Christie Williams, a county recreation specialist.

County workers began expanding the 40-foot-deep well on Monday, Utilities Director Kay Adams said. The improvements are not expected to be finished until early August. The library will be closed until then. "Forty feet is not a deep well, but years ago it was sufficient," Adams said.

Istachatta, which lies along the Withlacoochee River, historically has not had many problems with its water supply. But the water table has dropped much lower than usual because of the recent, lengthy drought, and "the type of pump they (installed) years ago just won't handle it now," said Frank Bishop, owner of Quality Pump and Well Service.

Ridge Manor, Nobleton, Weeki Wachee and other communities that normally experience high water table levels are facing similar situations, Bishop said. Wells are not necessarily running dry, he said, but many pumps are incapable of lifting water from levels much lower than 25 feet.

These factors have made orders to improve or replace old wells more numerous than in past years, Bishop said.

The Istachatta library will remain closed until the well again can provide water. It never has been the most active library in the system, open only on Wednesday afternoons and the second Saturday of each month.

"But we see a couple hundred people each month, and we check out a couple hundred books," Shiflett said. "Our supervisor is calling patrons and telling people where they can pick things up" from the reserve desk.

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