Russellville's water treatment plant is spitting out its normal 1,750 gallons of treated water a minute, but the two reservoir tanks atop South Main aren't filling up.

The source of the problem is a question that is stumping CIMA Executive Director Chuck McCollum.

The two tanks customarily hold 1 million gallons of treated water apiece. The water in the tanks is used for pressure purposes as well as fire protection.

One tank was at 23 feet Thursday morning, which equals 565,400 gallons, a little more than half its capacity. The other, much older tank, is speculated to be holding right at half its potential.

"It could be a couple of things," said McCollum, who played an intricate role in overcoming the 1998 water crisis which hit Russellville.

"With freezing temperatures slamming into South Central Kentucky last week, customers have been turning their taps and spickets on to keep their pipes from freezing. This combined with numerous water leaks throughout the city and our support to North Logan over the weekend could possibly be the culprit."

Russellville helped supply North Logan with water over the weekend because of a loss of approximately 1 million gallons which spilled out over the new water tank on Danby Road.

McCollum said freezing temperatures caused the telemetries-- technology in the tank that tells if the tank is full or needs more water-- to freeze, which caused the tank to overflow.

McCollum doubts Russellville's reservoir problem lies with a major line break, simply because he and his crew have literally scoured Russellville looking for any signs of large quantities of standing water and have not found a thing. Also, no calls from customers have come in complaining.

"It's a real quandary," said McCollum, who was bringing in divers Thursday morning to enter the reservoirs and see if the problem lies within the tanks themselves.

Russellville has another reservoir located out 68-80 West, which holds 100,000 gallons. There is no problem with that tank, said McCollum. "We will continue to search," he said, "until we find out what is going on. That, combined with customer patience and reporting noticeable leaks, makes it a waiting game."

McCollum is asking customers to call the city if they notice any standing water around their homes, streets, or fields. This could signify a line fracture which needs to be repaired.

McCollum insures the dilemma has nothing to do with the character of the drinking water and wishes to extinguish any hearsay to the contrary. "This is a quantity issue, not a quality one," he said.