Officials urge west-side residents to limit water use

Sewage could back up until plants repaired

Houston officials Wednesday pleaded with residents on the city’s west side to limit their water use until two flooded sewage treatment plants can be repaired.

The city’s West District and Turkey Creek wastewater treatment plants still were under 8 feet of water as of Monday night and remained shut down Wednesday morning.

That means residents in the 77024, 77041, 77043, 77055, 77077, 77079, 77080 and 77094 ZIP codes are being asked to limit water use — fewer flushes, shorter showers, fewer loads of laundry, doing dishes in the sink and not the dishwasher — until the plants can be brought back online.

Though some outlying utility districts have boilwater orders in place, the city of Houston’s drinking water is safe and has been throughout the floods.

The problem comes when that drinking water leaves the house because its normal destination is unavailable. The Turkey Creek plant is at 1249 Enclave Parkway; West District is at 255 Isolde.

Failing to limit wastewater use, officials said, could lead sewage to back up into the homes of people served by those two plants.

“People are concerned they’re going to have sewage in their homes. We don’t want that to happen,” said Councilwoman Brenda Stardig, who represents part of west Houston. “My (request) to the public today is they step up, do their part. It’s very important that we don’t contribute further to the problem.”

Mayor Sylvester Turner said work is underway to lay 4 miles of 12-inch pipe along the West Sam Houston Tollway to get the wastewater to a working plant for treatment. Stardig said that project, which is expected to finish Friday, could force lane closures on the beltway.

“It’s not going to just make it 100 percent, but it will ease the strain,” Turner said, adding that part of one plant is beginning to emerge from floodwaters.

Councilman Greg Travis added that businesses also must get the message, as large hotels and malls on the west side are returning to activity and ramping up the burden on the system.

There have been no reports of sewage in homes yet, Stardig said, but she called on residents to report any such incidents to the city’s 311 helpline.

“We’ve all done a great job of being survivors,” Stardig said. “Let’s not be victims again. Let’s do our part.”

Turner said the repair effort at the plants is costing several million dollars, but he said believes those costs will be reimbursed by federal disaster funds.