Jack Daniel’s water needs test MUD capacity

South Bottling closure raises the question of how much water MUD can safely deliver at once while servicing Lynchburg

11:10 p.m. Sept. 8, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

A leak that drained Jack Daniel’s fire-protection water supply forced the South Bottling plant to close Monday, Aug. 31, and exposed the limit of how much water the Metro Utility Department can deliver at once without pulling down the rest of its system.

MUD did not run out of water. It reached the point where it could not keep refilling Jack Daniel’s tanks without drawing down its own reserves.

Board member Greg Guinn asked that the issue be added to Tuesday night’s agenda.

Jack Daniel’s is MUD’s largest water customer, using about 3.7 million gallons in August.

After the leak drained the tanks used for fire protection at South Bottling, MUD began sending water at roughly 250 gallons per minute. As MUD’s tanks dropped, the department had to slow the flow.

“We weren’t out of water,” Guinn said. “We’re out of water that we can produce to give them at one large quantity.”

Protecting the rest of the system

MUD still had homes and businesses to serve, and it had to maintain enough pressure for fire protection across Lynchburg.

South Bottling could not operate Aug. 31 without an adequate fire reserve. Board members said about 750,000 gallons must be available for the plant’s sprinkler system. Several figures were mentioned for the overall capacity of the Jack Daniel’s tanks, but no firm number was established Tuesday.

Board member Glen Thomas said responsibility for the leak did not rest with MUD. “What happened is no fault of ours whatsoever,” he said.

The discussion indicated the leak was within the Jack Daniel’s system. Board members also questioned how that much stored water could be lost before the problem was caught.

MUD Manager Ronnie Cunningham spent much of the week working with Chris Presley, assistant maintenance manager at Jack Daniel’s, while the tanks were refilled.

Cunningham said he and Presley went back and forth, turning pumps on and off as MUD’s tank levels allowed. At one point, the flow to Jack Daniel’s was cut to about 70 gallons per minute to keep MUD’s storage from falling farther. No residential customers lost water.

By Tuesday, Cunningham said, the Jack Daniel’s tanks were back to adequate levels and South Bottling was operating again.

MUD could not keep refilling the tanks if doing so threatened pressure elsewhere in the system. Board members made clear that the rest of the county’s water service had to be protected.

More water in reserve

MUD engineer Bryant Griffin cited Nissan as an example of how additional fire storage could work.

Nissan has a 1-million-gallon tank, Griffin said, with the bottom 500,000 gallons reserved for fire protection. If the system drops that far, the reserve can be isolated.

Griffin said MUD could consider something similar on the 12-inch line serving Jack Daniel’s. That would give the distillery a fire reserve without drawing as heavily on MUD’s town tanks during an emergency.

Chair Barry Posluszny said the idea is not new. He recalled discussions dating to about 2020 about another tank for fire protection at Jack Daniel’s. An engineering presentation included expandable tanks, but the project was never built. Board members said Tuesday they did not know why it was dropped.

The board also discussed whether Jack Daniel’s could add backup storage or another supply line of its own rather than depending on MUD to rapidly refill depleted tanks. No decision was made Tuesday.

The plant is the next limit

Another tank could add reserve capacity, but it would not increase the amount of water MUD can produce.

“Somebody’s going to have to pay for a water treatment plant upgrade,” Griffin said.

A recent state sanitary survey found the MUD treatment plant operating at about 70% capacity, according to Cunningham, who said the plant is handling the current load.

If Jack Daniel’s needs substantially more water available on demand, MUD may eventually need a larger treatment plant, more storage, or both.

Several board members questioned how much of that cost should fall on MUD customers if the improvements are needed largely to meet Jack Daniel’s demand. There was no estimate Tuesday for what a larger plant or additional storage would cost, and the board took no action.

Board members said MUD and Jack Daniel’s need to determine what backup storage is needed and how much capacity the system must carry.

South Bottling is back at work, and its fire reserve is back to adequate levels. What happens the next time those tanks run low remains unsettled.

Jack Daniel’s and MUD have some figuring to do before then.