The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

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March 10, 2010

Line break forces wastewater into McGary Creek

By Matthew Jackson Staff Reporter

HUNTSVILLE — City of Huntsville Public Utilities workers spent much of Monday and Tuesday working to repair a broken wastewater force main that caused approximately 1 million gallons of wastewater to spill into McGary Creek just west of Huntsville.

Public Utilities Director Carol Reed said the line was repaired at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and “we anticipate the amount to be 1 million gallons that spilled. We notified the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and local government officials immediately when we discovered the broken main.”

“The discharge stopped at 11 a.m. Tuesday because we cut off the lift station so we didn’t have any more sewage spilling into the creek,” she said. “The lift station was big enough that it held that volume until we got it repaired this afternoon.

“We are repaired and will determine the total volume of the spill Wednesday.”

At approximately 8 a.m. Monday, a worker at the Robinson Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility noticed a significant drop in the flow of a force main leading to the plant.

Reed said such a drop is usually indicative of a leak.

“We get fluctuations throughout the day just based on domestic use,” Reed said, “but when you see something that’s a continual drop, when the water does not reach the plant, it’s going somewhere else.”

City crews immediately began checking the main to determine the source of the leak, and found it on McGary approximately 1,000 feet south of the creek’s intersection with FM 1791.

Reed said the source of the leak was a split in the pipe, which caused the wastewater to rush out of the pipe casing and into the creek, which flows into the San Jacinto River Basin.

The main was immediately shut down, and crews began working to repair the split pipe.

Reed said the wastewater flow has been tracked, and that no drinking water sources in the area have been affected.

“We tracked where it’s going down the stream,” Reed said. “Our main concern is that it’s not going to affect any wells, and we’ve tracked where it’s going and there’s no private or public wells where it’s going.”

Reed said after the repairs are completed an investigation into the cause of the leak will be launched.

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