What happened to Fort Worth’s water supply? Over 200,000 customers without clean water
When temperatures plummeted in North Texas, the Fort Worth Water Department expected several water main breaks, but officials did not anticipate widespread power outages at multiple facilities.
The number of power outages the department experienced at treatment plants and pump stations was “somewhat of a shock,” director Chris Harder said Tuesday during a briefing. Three of four treatment plants in operation lost power Monday with the Eagle Mountain plant lacking power for most of the day. Rolling blackouts also affected the Westside and downtown Fort Worth plants.
Those same power outages affected hundreds of thousands of Dallas-Fort Worth residents and more than 4 million customers across Texas. As of 12:30 p.m., around 283,000 Oncor customers in Tarrant County and 293,000 in Dallas County were without power, according to the company’s outage map.
It’s unclear how many people are without both water and power.
With a major treatment plant offline, the system quickly lost pressure, and the city issued a boil water advisory for more than 210,000 customers, almost the entire northern third of Fort Worth. Several smaller cities purchase water from Fort Worth and are also without water: Haslet, Keller, Lake Worth, Northlake, Roanoke, Saginaw, Southlake, Trophy Club and Westlake.
Power was restored to the Eagle Mountain location late Monday, but pipes, valves and other equipment were frozen, Harder said. Heaters have been procured from fire, police and other departments. The water department hopes to thaw the station sometime Tuesday, allowing the city to restore water pressure to northern part of the system.
“That has been a real challenge to us in terms of being able to get water to our customers,” Harder said, adding that the roughly 30 water main breaks reported by 10 a.m. were “manageable.”
The affected area is roughly bounded on the west by the city of River Oaks, Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain Lake. The southern boundary is almost to Northside Drive. The eastern boundary is the city limits.
Even when water pressure is restored, residents in this area should still boil water until the city issues a notice that water is safe. Because the system lost pressure, contaminants may have seeped into pipes through cracks, said Mary Gugliuzza, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth Water Department. The system must be flushed and tested to ensure the water is drinkable. That process can take up to 24 hours, she said.
Harder and Gugliuzza did not provide an estimate for when safe water would be restored.
While the treatment plants have multiple power feeds, including backup lines, they do not have their own source of power, Gugliuzza said. Generators would not be large enough to power the plants, she said, so the city did not have them in place.
Water should be boiled before use, including when drinking, brushing teeth and for cooking and hand and face washing. Once the water reaches a boil, it should continue boiling for two minutes.
The city had hoped to provide cases of bottled water to affected customers, but distribution centers had not been set up as of noon Tuesday. The city typically receives bottled water from Nestlé, but the company was closed Tuesday. Gugliuzza said the city’s Emergency Operations Center has put in a request to the state for additional supplies.
Both councilmen Dennis Shingleton and Cary Moon, who represent areas affected by the boil advisory, said they anticipated the city opening distribution centers in school parking lots within their districts once bottled water is obtained. Shingleton said District 7 would likely have four sites.
The city has used social media and press releases to communicate about the advisory and may use automated calls, Gugliuzza said. The department’s customer service can be reached at 817-392-4477 or by emailing MyWaterAccount@FortWorthTexas.gov. Health officers from the city’s code department told restaraunts in the area via phone and email to close until the advisory is lifted.
Not just Fort Worth
Keller and Southlake announced on their social media sites that they are experiencing “critically low” water supplies as Fort Worth works to bring its system back online.
The post from Keller said, “As we feared last night in our conservation message, the Keller water system has now reached critically low levels. The stores in our water towers have been depleted, leaving only what is left in the pipes.
City officials will continue exploring options to supplement our water, but we will not be able to fully replenish our system until Fort Worth completes its repairs to their equipment. They are hoping to have that work completed later today, and we will update residents as soon as we know more.”
Southlake also reported that its water supply is nearly depleted.
“Fort Worth is working to get its system back online, and while this is taking place, Southlake is not receiving new water from Fort Worth,” said Public Works Director Rob Cohen.
In Saginaw, which is also under the boil water notice, city manager Gabe Reaume said that the city cannot provide bottled water for residents.
Most of the city is without electricity, he said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have the means to get bottled water to people right now,” he said. Along with power outages, there is spotty cell service.
Reaume was at the city’s main fire station helping first responders get fuel for their vehicles as most gas stations are shut down because of the widespread power outages.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 1:58 PM.
