Galveston’s water back on, but boil it

GALVESTON — City officials late Wednesday began restoring water service for parts of the island, though boil water notices remained in effect across Galveston County.

The city of Galveston shut off its water supply early Wednesday after its main water supplier, the Gulf Coast Water Authority, separately encountered capacity issues that vastly reduced the flow of water to the island.

Galveston Mayor Craig Brown told the Houston Chronicle that higher temperatures along the coast led to previously frozen pipes bursting and then leaking massive amounts of water.

“At one point 14,000 gallons per minute of water was flowing out of our system from these homes that had sprung leaks,” Brown said.

Brown said Wednesday afternoon that the water authority was refilling the island’s depleted water tanks.

Emergency crews and city public works employees had been out servicing homes and businesses with leaking pipes since early Wednesday morning.

“We are close to filling two of our (water) tanks,” Brown said.

“Once we get them 75 percent filled, then we will energize them and pressurize them and our goal is to get that water out as quickly as possible.”

Once water was restored, Galveston was to remain under a boil-water notice, meaning water for drinking, cooking and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water to ensure the destruction of any harmful bacteria.

Water shortages from burst pipes because of the past two days of freezing weather have plagued many cities across Galveston County.

The following jurisdictions issued boil water notices and were asking residents to stop dripping water from faucets and outdoor pipes in order to maintain water pressure and supply: Bacliff MUD, Bayou Vista, Bayview MUD, Bolivar Peninsula Special Utility District, Clear Lake Shores, Friendswood, Galveston, Hitchcock, Kemah, La Marque, League City, San Leon MUD and Tiki Island

Galveston County continued to deal with power outages Wednesday evening, with nearly 50 percent of the county suffering from blackouts due to statemandated shortages, down from around 80 percent.

There were currently no estimates as to when power might return.