Freedumb! Texas Had 3,866 Boil Orders In 2021, Most In 10 Years, As Aging Water Systems Crack

[hatrack]

Odessa city officials are still investigating what caused a massive water line break that left the city without water for 48 hours last month. But they’ve shared one important detail: The water line was about 60 years old. “Aging water systems are common throughout the country,” said Thomas Kerr, Odessa’s utilities director, during a press conference the day after the line broke. “It’s often difficult for municipalities to be able to afford to manage those systems as they age. That’s the situation we find ourselves in.”

The water outage in Odessa exposed the city to a reality that happens all over Texas and the nation — water supply systems have become increasingly more vulnerable to disasters. In February, many Laredo residents had their water cut off due to a break in the 50-year-old pipes. In May, Bell County residents were asked to use 50% less water after a water leak. Last month, a water line break caused areas of College Station to flood, and officials said it was due to the dry conditions.

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According to data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 2021 was the worst year for water boil notices in the last decade, with 3,866 reported. The high number of reports could be linked to the winter storm last year, when more than 14.6 million Texans’ water supply was disrupted by frozen or burst pipes. During that time, 1,655 water boil notices were issued. On average in the last 10 years, East Texas has experienced more water boil notices than any other area per year. TCEQ said only 12 of Texas’ 254 counties had no listed notices in the last decade. The agency did not have additional information about why that is, noting that the information available is self-reported by each city’s public water officials.

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Another issue facing Texas’ water infrastructure is the ongoing drought. Texas is experiencing the worst drought in the last decade. About 80% of Texas has been facing drought conditions most of the year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. “​​When it gets dry, the soil expands and contracts, and when it does that, it impacts everything underground,” Fowler said. “So if pipes are in conditions where the soil is expanding and contracting, especially if they’re old and brittle, they’re more likely to have potential failures. Which is why typically we do see more pipes breaking in the summertime in Texas.”

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https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/08/texas-odessa-aging-water-infrastructure/

[Lovie777]

1. Yeah . . .

but Abbott will blame Pres. Biden.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. My neighborhood water system is 60 years old.

Small town, 6000 pop, in a county of 22,000. Very rural.

Few years ago the city crew was working on our water line. I spoke with one of the
guys. He told me he was astounded to find that the water dept. did not have a unified
map of the water lines, city or county.
What they have is institutional memory. People tend to work in city jobs for a long time, they pass on what they know to the younger emp!oyees. On the job training.
My neighbor across the road found out he had a septic tank. Been living there for years, thought he was on the sewer line. Paying sewer bills.
Even if he had thought to ask the city about his sewer system, they wouldn't know.
Someone would have to lookup the house blueprints, which usually are in the tax office.

City sent us a notice of planned apt.building going up across the highway. The notice
included a blueprint drawing of the 2 homes that would see the planned building if it went up.
My home and a neighbor's home about a 100 feet from us.
Except my "home" was shown to be the small lot we own, next to neighbors house.
Our house does not exist in the maps. Our street address exists, since they mailed the info. to us at the mailbox, at the end of our driveway.
Come the day they ever replace the old water pipes, a lot of them won't show up in databases.