Nearly 12 Million Texans Now Face Water Disruptions. The State is Asking Residents to Stop Dripping Taps.https://www.kwtx.com/2021/02/18/nearly-12-million-texans-now-face-water-disruptions-the-state-is-asking-residents-to-stop-dripping-taps/AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Tribune) - First Texans lost their power. Now, they’re losing their potable water.
After enduring multiple days of freezing temperatures and Texans dripping faucets to prevent frozen pipes from bursting, cities across the state warned residents on Wednesday that water levels are dangerously low and may be unsafe to drink.
Approximately 590 public water systems in 141 Texas counties have reported disruptions in service, affecting 11.8 million people as of late Wednesday afternoon, according to a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesperson.
“Water pressure is very low. Please do not run water to keep pipes from bursting,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted Wednesday morning. “Turn off water if pipes have burst. Please contact us if you don’t know how to turn off water. Be conservative on water usage today. It is needed for hospitals and fires.”
At a Wednesday press conference, TCEQ executive Director Toby Baker said water quality issues were related to the lack of electricity, frozen and broken water lines, and people dripping faucets so much that it was causing water lower pressure. Baker also said it will take testing to demonstrate that the water is safe before boil notices can be lifted. There are only 135 labs in the state that do that sampling, he said, which means the boil notices could linger.
“It’s not clear when water supplies will be replenished, but energy constraints often have impact on the water system because the water system requires energy for treatment and pumping,” said Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
... “No grocery stores are open in our area so there’s no chance for restock even if you are one of the very few with a car that can make it the miles it would take to get water,” Riley, a 27-year-old writer, told The Texas Tribune.
One Fort Worth resident reported a small “pencil-width” stream of water at their house. A Houston-area woman who lives near the Medical Center got water back for about an hour yesterday after, but said it was brown and undrinkable. A resident in San Antonio said their water froze even after running their taps.
... For now, it’s unclear when cities will be able to lift their water boil notices. While some parts of Austin have issued notices as a precautionary measure, other cities, like San Angelo, have gone days without safe drinking water after city officials found industrial chemicals contaminated the water system.
.... During the storm ERCOT said, 40% of the state's generators - four out of every 10 - were knocked offline. Those generators account for 46,000 megawatts of power, enough electricity to power roughly 9.2 million homes.
