Following Winter Storm, Texas Assesses Water System Damage
Long after a winter storm that brought freezing temperatures to Texas had passed, residents were still dealing with significant water service issues, demonstrating just how devastating the storm had been and how critical these services are to daily life.
In February, winter conditions led to service disruptions for water systems in more than 140 counties across Texas, affecting some 14.9 million people at its peak. But even well after those freezing temperatures had dissipated, a significant number of residents were still struggling to get things back to normal.
“Over 1.4 million Texans still faced water disruptions … more than a week after Texas’ winter storms wreaked havoc on the state’s power grid and water services,” the Texas Tribune reported. “More than 20,000 people were completely without running water … because of water main breaks, mechanical failures, frozen or broken lines or other issues.”
With the cost of fixing the storm damage in the billions of dollars, it’s unclear when exactly everything in the state will be back to normal. But residents and local officials will be receiving some federal help.
“President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Texas as power outages are declining but water shortages continue to pose problems due to damage caused to pipes and water mains by subfreezing cold,” according to UPI. “Biden approved the declaration for all 254 counties and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms.”
The weather created a range of problems for water systems in Texas. Freezing temperatures forced drinking water within pipelines to expand, thus bursting the pipes. Because residents wanted to avoid broken pipelines, many of them left their faucets dripping, which contributed to low water pressure and potential contamination in the system, necessitating boil-water advisories. Wide-ranging loss of power also affected local treatment operations.
This combination of issues has resulted in some unexpected consequences even as areas of Texas begin to recover, such as odor control issues.
“Even though the city says its drinking water is safe for consumption, Houston 311 has received an increase in calls about a strange and bad odor coming from it,” per KHOU. “Chlorine and ammonia (chloramine) are used to disinfect the surface water. Groundwater is disinfected with only chlorine. The combination of the two chemicals is what causes the odor.”
And, adding to the sheer scale of this recovery effort, it isn’t only Texas that has seen fundamental water issues as a result of the storm.
“The weather also disrupted water systems in Southern cities, including New Orleans, and Shreveport, Louisiana, where fire trucks delivered water to hospitals and bottled water was brought in for patients and staff,” AP reported. “And in Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Chokwe Ante Lumumba said almost the entire city of about 150,000 was without water.”
The breadth of the water problems caused by this weather has been a reminder of just how integral and fragile one of the most critical public services can be.
To read more about how water systems prepare for storm damage, visit Water Online’s Resiliency Solutions Center.