Tens of thousands of Austin Residents are still without water, but Austin Water’s Greg Mezeros says they are making progress on the “multi day” process of restoring services.
Operations Update
We made progress today but we still have many challenges to overcome. We expect it will be a multi-day long process to restore water service. We will continue to provide updates. pic.twitter.com/RUG5rg64xN
— Austin Water (@AustinWater) February 19, 2021
He says during the Winter storm the Utility’s largest treatment plant lost power and was knocked offline, kicking off the city wide Boil Water notice. Power to the plant has been restored and the facility is up and running, but Mezeros says more work still needs to be done.
He explained they’ll be working on the restoration in two phases.
The first would work to refill the reservoirs drained by recent usage, find leaks caused by the cold snap and fix them and restore the needed water pressures for the system to work.
In phase two, they’ll need to start chemical tests to see if the waters are safe. Mezeros adds, Austin Water is working with the state to expedite this process. Only after all that can the water system be brought back into full service once more.
