As reported, our water system was heavily impacted by power outages. The impact of shutting down city power supply caused our pumps to stop functioning and well heads to freeze. This action caused our underground water storage tanks to fall to the point of limiting our ability to fill our elevated storage tank (EST) . Without water in our EST, water to your tap was unavailable.
With the power now remaining on, we are working hard to recover. The three underground storage tanks are filling, albeit, not as quick as we would like. Storage tank #1 holds, at capacity, 24’ in depth and currently is at 9’ in depth. Storage tank #2, at capacity, holds 23’ in depth and is now registering at 21’. Our final storage tank holds 24’ in depth and currently holds 12’. All tanks are filling so we are headed on the road to recovery.
The next step in recovery will be to refill the water lines around the city. This process is underway presently. Filling the lines will take time and once complete, we will then move water from all three storage tanks to our elevated storage and create water pressure, restoring pressure to our City. My best estimate of when this will take place is tomorrow (Friday) by the end of the day.
Once pressure is restored, the boil order will remain in place until such time as TCEQ tests our water supply and give the City approval to lift the order. We will be in line with many other municipalities seeking water testing and approvals so this may take a day or two to secure the needed approval.
Citizens should expect the water from taps to look murky as we will be refilling the entire system and stirring up sediment. This will clear in time.
Lane H. Jones – C.M.O.
City Manager, Van Alstyne, Texas