The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

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  • At top, members of the City of Huntsville’s Water Department worked into the evening Wednesday replacing at least 70 feet of the 30-inch water line that supplies the city with at least 75 percent of its water. A break occurred in one area of the 30-year-old line Monday night, located in a pasture north of Farm Road 2821. They were replacing the deteriorated pre-stress, steel wrapped concrete pipe with PVC pipe. Jay Ermis

    Water Main Repairs

  • City manager Bill Baine, right, and water services superintendent Jason Pierce discuss the amount of time it will take to replace the line. Jay Ermis

    3-11-water-baine-color.jpg

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March 10, 2010

City working to repair main water feed

By Jay Ermis Managing Editor

HUNTSVILLE — The City of Huntsville’s Water Department may not complete repairing a break in the water line that supplies the city until possibly late this afternoon.

The 30-inch water line runs from the Trinity River Authority’s surface water plant near the Trinity River to Huntsville’s Palm Street water plant off Sam Houston Avenue.

The water line runs through a pasture across from Huntsville High School or north of Farm Road 2821 and the break occurred in the middle of the field.

The city is currently relying on its seven wells to supply water to residents, Sam Houston State University and Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison units.

Carol Reed, the city’s Public Utilities director, said the seven wells are used all of the time, supplying 25 percent of the city’s total water usage, while the TRA plant supplies the remaining 75 percent.

Reed said the wells can supply the city with water, but for a limited time.

“If this was the middle of the summer and we hadn’t had the rain like we’ve had and gone several months without it, we would be in a much more serious position than we are now,” Reed said.

“We were able to replenish the elevation from the wells and since it was at night there was low usage,” she said. “We were able to catch up.”

Reed said the water leak was discovered around 9:30 p.m. Monday when a Palm Street water plant operator noticed that the elevations in the storage tanks at the location were falling.

“The only way that could happen is if there is a substantial hole in the 30-inch line from TRA,” she said.

A valve at the TRA plant and a valve that was installed a few years ago when a break occurred in the 30-inch line to the north of FM 2821 were closed “so there wouldn’t be any more backflow into the line,” Reed said

At least 40 feet of line was replaced at that location at the time.

Reed said water department crews went out Tuesday morning and found where the break occurred, aided by a large hole in the ground where water had been spewing out.

Jason Pierce, water services superintendent, said the line had a 6- by 8-inch hole on one side of the pipe and “we lost between 5,000 and 8,000 gallons of water a minute.”

He said they found the leak within two hours of the break and were able to isolate the break by shutting off the valves.

Pierce said late Wednesday he expected 70 feet of water line to be replaced and a worse case scenario of replacing up to 150 feet of the 30-year-old line.

They would replace the deteriorated pre-stress, steel wrapped concrete pipe with PVC pipe. The leak was concentrated in one area.

He expected the work to be completed from midday today to late afternoon.

Pierce said the 70 feet of new line would join 100 feet of line that was installed in 2006 in five different locations.

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