Businesses scramble to continue normal operations after pipe burst.
Businesses find ways to continue operations as icemakers go ‘all hands on deck’ amid boil water notice
The first call to Amigos Ice Distributors, an ice supplier based in the Greater East End, came in around 12:30 Friday morning. It was the harbinger to a flood of orders that continued throughout the day as grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses scrambled to secure clean supplies of ice and water after a massive water main break increased the risk of bacteria in the city’s drinking water.
“We’ve been swamped,” said Mike Rocha, one of the owners of the ice distribution company. By noon Friday, the business had received five times its normal number of daily orders. “It’s all hands on deck.”
As a boil notice remained in place the day after a large water main break, businesses searched for ways to continue normal operations.
Coffee shops continued serving hot drinks as usual but were forced to look for new ways to prepare cold beverages. Giant Leap Coffee, just east of downtown, began making its cold brew from boiled water, which had to be cooled with purchased ice before it was served.
H-E-B received 40 trailers of water Thursday night and said it expected more to ar
rive on Friday.
“We will continue to work to supply our stores in the city limits until the boil ban is lifted,” said Lisa Helfman, H-E-B’s public affairs director.
Restaurants downtown were boiling water and waiting for ice and soda deliveries Friday morning before the lunch crowds hit.
Shepard Ross, general manager and partner of Bravery Chef Hall near Market Square Park, was awaiting a delivery of 800 pounds of ice from a distributor whose cubes had been made prior to the leak.
The upscale food hall, with five restaurants and three bars, never lost water or water pressure after Thursday’s water line break.
After getting word of the water advisory, workers began pouring boiling water over all the ice in the machines and calling around for deliveries. The hall received 400 pounds of ice before supplies started getting low.
“Everyone in town was calling for ice, so we just kind of squeaked by,” Ross said.
For an extra level of protection, he had the food hall’s water heaters turned up so dish-washing machines would operate at their maximum temperatures.
Most of the beverages served at Bravery are in bottles or cans, which were being kept cold in refrigerators Thursday until the ice deliveries came in. Yet some customers were upset they couldn’t get ice in their drinks.
“You’d be amazed how that ticks people off,” Ross said.
As he prepared for the Friday lunch crowd, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect. “Generally, Friday’s a pretty busy lunch for us but the combination of the market being so far down and the coronavirus worries and the water main break, maybe people will just come out and eat and drink and forget about what’s going on,” he said.