City’s chlorine burn reaching halfway point

The city of Breckenridge began the city-wide chlorine burn Monday, Nov. 28. The disinfection process will continue through Wednesday, Dec. 28 and water remains safe to drink during this treatment process.

The chlorine burn is to disinfect the water supply from microorganisms and clean the pipes of organic material. The process uses only chlorine, which starves organic materials that coat pipes and feed off ammonia.

City Manager Cynthia Northrop updated Mayor Bob Sims and City Commissioners on the process during their regular scheduled meeting Tuesday, Dec. 6.

“We have confirmed that we’ve got the chlorine all the way through our system, through our lines, through our tanks, and all of that,” Northrop explained. “And so now, we’ll be kind of hanging out in that phase and then we’ll do the reverse part of that towards the end. So, we’re on track there and everything’s going well.”

She continued by ensuring what some citizens are reporting as water leaks, are the water lines being flushed in order to get the chlorine all the way through the lines.

“That’s a big part of it. You have to flush the lines to drive that chlorine through it. Also, you might see dirty water coming out of the taps,” Northrop said. “(...) I just want to emphasize that the water is safe to drink. Public works has been doing a great job on that. Scott, at the water treatment plant, and of course public works flushing the lines.”

According to Northrop, if citizens notice discolored water coming out of their faucets, they should let their faucets run until clear.

If residents have any questions or concerns about the process, they can contact Northrop at 254-246-1963 or Robert Alvarez at 254522-5613.