ALEXANDRIA — The town’s problems with rusty water may soon be over.

During Monday’s meeting of the Alexandria City Council, Mayor Jack Woods said upgrades to the water system that supplies the Poet Biorefining plant on the outskirts of town are 90 percent complete.

Since the plant’s opening in April 2008, Alexandria residents have complained about water pressure problems and rust-colored water.

Alexandria’s water operator, Mark Caldwell, blamed the Poet plant for the problems since the plant was hooked into the town’s water system. Caldwell claimed that Poet’s employees failed to warn the city when it turned on or off the water supply, causing a backup of water that shook rust loose from city water lines.

The result was brown water for city residents.

Poet maintained that the water issues were not being caused by its employees’ negligence. Nathan Schock of Poet said the plant had cell phone records indicating that employees had called the city to warn about turning off the water.

On Monday, the mayor said a June 23 meeting had been scheduled between the city and officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to discuss the resolution to the problem.

The plant is set to get its lines separated so that plant officials can operate without interfering with the water supply of residents.

After the meeting, Caldwell is expected to flush the water hydrants and water should return to normal, Woods said.

Contact Brandi Watters: 640-4847, brandi.watters @heraldbulletin.com