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I have spent a lot of time on the road over the last couple of months. I have traveled around the State as well as Florida.  There are really two things that I miss when I travel.  Besides my family I miss good old Temple tap water.  I have, on occasion, heard people gripe about the quality of our water here in Temple.  It is on these occasions that I wish I had a glass of that sparkling Waco or West Texas water to give them to quench their thirst.  This last week at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom I got a taste of water from a fountain that just about made me puke.  The one thing it did do was to make me buy bottled water the rest of that day.  Then again, maybe this was by design.

City of Temple Water Update – City Begins Water Conservation Transition for 835 Zone Residents and Implements No Watering Window City-Wide

Since installation of the new mobile water pump was completed on July 4, the City of Temple has been closely monitoring both the pumping capacity and water distribution system in the 835 Pressure Zone.  System modifications and adjustments have been made over the past 10 days.  The water system has performed as expected and additional water to the 835 Zone is now available.

Beginning Tuesday, July 14, the City of Temple will begin transitioning customers in the 835 Pressure Zone from mandatory Stage 2-W water restrictions to voluntary Stage 1 water conservation measures.  This change will be phased in over a three day period.  It is critical that customers follow the established schedule for the transition period to ensure that the system is able to accommodate anticipated increased system demands.

The transition period will begin with customers whose watering days are currently Tuesday and Friday (subdivisions including Lakewood Ranch and Eagle Oaks).  Beginning Wednesday, July 15, these customers will be placed back onto Stage 1 of the Plan, encouraging the practice of voluntary water conservation as established under the City’s adopted Conservation Plan.

Beginning Thursday, July 16, customers whose watering days are currently Wednesday and Saturday (Morgan’s Point Resort) will be placed back onto Stage 1 of the Plan, encouraging the practice of voluntary water conservation as established under the City’s adopted Conservation Plan.

Beginning Friday, July 17, customers whose watering days are currently Monday and Thursday (subdivisions including Woodland Trail, Northcliffe, and Windmill Farms) will be placed back onto Stage 1 of the Plan, encouraging the practice of voluntary water conservation as established under the City’s adopted Conservation Plan.

In addition, the City is implementing, city-wide, a NO WATERING WINDOW between 2:00 am and 8:00 am 7 days a week.  The restriction goes into effect immediately and will remain in place until further notice.  This prohibition on outdoor watering during the early morning hours will allow system tanks to refill over night and to meet what has become high demand thru out the system.

While additional pumping capacity for the area is now in place and is operating well, existing storage capacities remain constant and cannot provide adequate storage for every customer to water at the same time.  The established plan for transitioning customers back onto voluntary conservation is contingent upon system users wisely monitoring and using available resources (a suggested watering pattern could be a M/Th/Sat or Tues/Fri/Sun schedule).

The City of Temple requests that customers be cognizant and sensible in outdoor water use.  Please note that should the system experience another instance of concurrent, overwhelming demand of water, mandatory water conservation restrictions will likely be required again.

“While the system capabilities have been expanded and we believe will be able to handle demand for the remainder of the summer, it can not handle everyone turning on every faucet at the same time,” states City Manager, David Blackburn.   “I would urge residents to be water conservation-minded over the remaining summer days and follow good water conservation practices.  If we don’t follow good water conservations practices, then mandatory water restrictions will have to be put back into place again.”

My wife took the photo below on July 4th.  She was on her way, with the kids, to the Lake for a day of fun and relaxation.  For those of you that stayed in the AC on the 4th -  it WAS hot.  These guys didn’t get a break for the 4th.  In fact, ever since June 26th City crews working have been working non-stop to get West Temple and Morgan’s Point more water.  I want to publically thank those who worked on this project for going WAY over and above.  Our water and sewer crews are on call 24/7 to keep everything flowing. These are the guys that keep the water running and the toilets flushing. The next time you drive by one of our water or sewer crews I would encourage you to honk and give ‘em the thumbs up!  They deserve it.

Three upset constituents gave me a piece of their mind today. One guy was mad because he could not build a 21′ tall metal boat shed in his backyard and the other two folks were upset about the water crisis in West Temple.  This is the first call I have received about the residential metal buildings ordinance.  I have a feeling I will be getting more calls about about the water issue.

The City of Temple’s water situation as of July 1st, 3 pm is as follows:
Stage 5 water restrictions remain in place for the 835 Zone, which is the area west of FM 317, south of AirportRoad and north of the Leon River.  Water demand in the 835 Zone has decreased and the water tanks and pumps are operational and experiencing no issues at this time.
The City has acquired a mobile water pump (MWP). The MWP is now on-site and City crews will be working this afternoon and thru the night to connect the MWP to the City Water system.  Once connected, the MWP and City water line will be cleaned, disinfected and tested prior to bringing the MWP into service.  It will take between 24-48 hours to make the physical connections and an additional 24-48 hours to perform cleaning, disinfecting, and testing of the line.  Based on these calculations, the City anticipates additional water for the 835 Zone will be available late this week or early Monday.
Amedia conference is scheduled for Thursday, July 2nd at 3 pm. in City Council Chambers to provide an update.

Below is a note I got this morning from the City Manager.

Some Background:
The area (known in our system as the ‘835 Zone’) depends on a the FM 2305 Booster Pump Station  and Pepper Creek Tank (located just west of the intersection of FM 2271 and FM 2305) for water.  They are the only pump station and water tank for the entire 835 Zone and we have no back up or redundancy for the 835 Zone.

There are approximately 2,200 City of Temple customers in the 835 Zone.  In addition, we provide water to approximately 5,000 Morgan’s Point customers from the 835 Zone.   All total, about 7,200 customers.

A map showing the 835 Zone and the locations of the FM 2305 Booster Pump Station and the Pepper Creek Water Tank is attached.   The map also indicates the approximate number of customers in some of the subdivisions located in the 835 Zone.

Last Friday:
June 26th…  between 2 and 4 am we experienced a malfunction at the FM 2305 Booster Pump Station that caused the pump to throttle back and pump less water than it is capable of pumping.  This event, coupled with high demand that followed during the day, caused us to issue a Stage 5 water restriction for an area west of FM 317.

After the malfunction was discovered and repaired, Public Works Water Treatment and Distribution personnel began monitoring the Pump Station and the Tank for recovery times.  The pumps at the Booster Station were fully operational and pushing as much water as they were designed to push to the Tank, approximately 3,000 gallons per minute.  We watched throughout the morning as the pumps struggled to refill the Tank ahead of the demand.

At approximately noon on Friday it became apparent that demand would outpace the pumps ability to refill the Tank.

In addition, Morgan’s Point two water storage tanks, which are also fed off of the FM 2305 Booster Pump Station, had not recovered either.

A meeting of City Administration, Public Works Administration and water personnel, and Morgan’s Point officials was held at 1 pm.  At the conclusion of that meeting, it was determined that water demand was out pacing the pumps ability to refill the tanks.  It was also determined that both cities needed to go to the highest level of water conservation in order to allow the tanks to recover.  A Water Conservation Plan Stage 5 directive was issued from my office.

Saturday & Sunday
June 27th & June 28th…City Administration, Public Works, and Public Safety personnel in both cities monitor the water situation.  With the assistance of Public Safety personnel,  the Stage 5 prohibition on outdoor watering is effective and the tanks recover.

Sunday afternoon at approximately 5 pm I meet with Acting Public Works Director Nicole Torralva and review the pump and tanks status.  It appears that the system is working as it should and the that the tanks have recovered to maximum capacity levels.

At approximately 7 pm I issue a media release lifting Stage 5 and returning to Stage 1 for the 835 Zone.  I ask that residents continue to observe water conservation measures, as demand levels are very high.

Sunday Night and Monday
Evening of June 28th and June 29th…Immediately following the lifting of Stage 5 restrictions, demand levels increased significantly.   All three tanks began dropping at a rate faster than the pumps could handle thru the night and into the next morning.

City Administration and Public Works monitored the situation throughout the day and was hopeful that the tanks would recover during non-peak demand time thru the day in order to be able to provide service during the peak evening hours.

Public Works Administration and field personnel monitored the situation throughout the day.  Administration worked on identifying and developing alternate courses of action for providing water to the tanks.  At approximately 3:45 pm, I met with Public Works Administration and we reviewed the data from the day and discussed options and alternatives.  The data, at this time, indicated the tanks were slowly recovering. It was decided to wait and see if the tanks could recover before the evening demand time.  It was also hoped for that our evening demand time would be lessened by the fact that peak demand appeared to have occurred the previous night following the lifting of Stage 5.

We also discussed an alternate, concurrent possibility and strategy of bringing another water tank (Airport Tank) into play in order to increase our ability to provide more water to the 835 Zone.  After much discussion, I directed Public Works to pursue such strategy and to do so immediately.  (We are not certain that the strategy will work or how long it will take us to implement bringing the Airport Tank into the 835 Zone.  It is possible, under a best case scenario, that we could have the Airport Tank in play by this weekend. )

The meeting concluded at approximately 5 pm with the understandings noted above.

At approximately 9:05 pm I received a call from the Public Works Director advising that the tanks had not recovered and the our tank was getting dangerously low.  He recommended returning to Stage 5 water restrictions for the 835 Zone. I concurred and initiated a call to Public Safety advising of the need to issue the call for a return to Stage 5 of our Water Conservation Plan for the 835 Zone.

News media were notified in time for the 10 pm news and reverse 911 calls, via our ‘First Call’ system, were made between approximately 10:15 pm and 10:45 pm to City of Temple water customers in the 835 Zone advising them of the return to Stage 5 restrictions.

Tuesday morning…
June 30th…as of approximately 6 am this morning, our tanks were slowly recovering.  Sufficient water availability and water pressure exist in the system and fire protection services are not at risk at the moment.

I will be meeting with Public Works officials throughout the day to assess the situation and to continue work on trying to identify an alternate means of providing more water to the 835 Zone.  I am anticipating that we’ll be able to know at least what our timeline is for potentially bringing the Airport Tank into play by the end of the day.  Again, best case scenario for this strategy is late this week or weekend.

Meantime, I see no available course of action for the next 24-48 hours other than prohibiting outdoor water use in the 835 Zone.  It may be that we can allow some outdoor watering, within certain times and days, and still maintain the tanks.  I will try and make that call in the next day or two, assuming our system is capable of handling such demand.