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(Photo/Alex Kielar) City employees worked for several hours to repair a busted water line which drained both water towers Thursday, July 31. The entire City of Breckenridge was put under a boil water notice after 5:30 p.m. and the notice remains until the city gets samples back from Abilene. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) Water was pouring onto East Walker Street from a busted water line Thursday afternoon, July 31 at the intersection of South Easton Street. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) A contractor working on East Walker Street hit a water line Thursday afternoon, July 31 which resulted in both water towers being drained. After a water boil notice was initially only put out for residents on the east side of Breckenridge, it was soon after elevated to a city-wide notice. City employees worked for several hours to repair the line.
A busted water line on East Walker Street led to the entire City of Breckenridge being under a boil water notice starting Thursday afternoon, July 31.
According to Breckenridge City Manager Cynthia Northrop, they are hopeful to get cleared to issue rescind boil water notices as early as Saturday or by Monday or Tuesday of next week, after taking samples to Abilene on Friday, Aug. 1.
A six-inch water line on East Walker Street was hit by a contractor around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, near the intersection at South Easton Street, and both water towers were drained.
“Water crews are wrapping up repairs and valves were located. Water pressure is rising in our towers. As both towers were drained, it will take some time for the pressure to rise once repairs are complete and valves are turned back on and then for water to rise in the tanks,” Northrop said shortly after 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
City employees were working late Thursday and the city had issued a boil water notice for water customers on the east side of Breckenridge just after 4 p.m. That was after Northrop released a statement at 3:14 p.m. that the contractor had hit the water line. But at 5:41 p.m., the notice was updated to a city-wide boil water notice.
Employees were finishing repairs until about 7:30 to 8 p.m. and finished work by 9 p.m.
Once repairs were completed, the employees turned the valves back on and upon doing that, it took a little while longer for the pressure to build back up. Northrop said that samples were being taken to Abilene on Friday morning, Aug. 1 and they hope to get them back Saturday in order to be able to issue the rescind notices.
Northrop also said that not everyone had lost water during the event, as the ground storage level was not reached, which is the backup behind the two towers.
Northrop said that the contractor HP Communications, who was working for FiberLight, was the one who hit the line. The city currently has two companies, FiberLight and Oncor, working on major projects that require a lot of digging.
“We had met prior and said that they need to be very careful digging, even while boring they could hit a water line,” Northrop said. “We emphasized that. We don’t allow digging on weekends to try and avoid a boil water notice for the whole weekend. So we took precautions to try and avoid these situations. Accidents do happen, unfortunately.”
Due to the incident, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the public water system to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption. Children, seniors and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions.
To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.
In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
