GILBERT, S.C. — Sustained temperatures below freezing led to an unusual spectacle in one Lexington County community on Christmas Eve.
Viewer footage shows a water tower, part of the Gilbert Summit Rural Water District, with a sheet of ice seemingly spilling over onto the ground below along Peach Festival Road after temperatures plummeted into the low teens for much of the morning.
While the ice looks very concerning, there is good news for residents as it appears there are no impacts to water service at this time.
According to Manager Mark Forrester with Gilbert-Summit Rural Water District, the controls for the pumps filling the tank actually froze and failed to switch off when the tank filled.
"So, they kept pumping and overflowed the tank sending out a spray of water which froze," he added. "The tank is fine and full of water so there are no issues with water supply to any customers."
He said crews are manually controlling the pumps until the automatic control can be thawed out.
This ice will likely stay in place as temperatures will remain below freezing until Sunday afternoon in the region.