City of Newcastle remains under boil water notice

City of Newcastle remains under boil water notice News Staff Tue, 06/25/2024 - 5:06 pm City of Newcastle restoring water service following line repair

• (THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The city of Newcastle is working to restore water service in the city and lift the boil water notice that has been enacted since Saturday, June 22.

Thomas Wallner editor@grahamleader.com

The city of Newcastle is working to restore water service in the city and lift the boil water order that has been in place since Saturday.

A boil water notice was issued to residents within the city of Newcastle Saturday, June 22 due to lowered disinfectant residuals in the water system. With the heat breaking down the chlorine, this caused the residuals to decline.

“By the time it dispersed out on the lines, the heat is driving those chlorine levels down, so our residuals went low and we had to drain our standpipe and then, when draining it, realized we had a hole in our tank so we had to get that repaired,” Newcastle City Secretary Alice Winder said.

Additionally, due to low water distribution pressure and a water outage caused by a line break in the water system, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) required Fort Belknap Water Supply Corporation, which supplies water to Newcastle, to issue a boil water notice Thursday, June 25.

“Fort Belknap sprung a leak on their end and so we are not getting the water that we need just yet because of the leak that they have,” Winder said. “...Fort Belknap is in the process of fixing theirs. Now, once they fix theirs, then we will be able to fill our supply up and test the water if we are getting the correct residuals.”

The city of Newcastle was at a standstill waiting until Fort Belknap Water Supply Corporation repaired their water line.

“It’s just been one of those (things where) the guys are working on it and trying to get it fixed as soon as they can,” Winder said. “We’ve had leaks here and it’s kind of one of those deals where you can’t really predict because you really don’t know. Hopefully it won’t be long so that way we can start out on our process, as far as what we have to do here.”

Fort Belknap Water Supply Corporation posted on their Facebook page around 9 p.m. June 25 that the line break was repaired and they were turning the valves back on slowly. Water pressure has been restored in Newcastle and city crews are out testing the water to get the boil water notice lifted.

“Hopefully in the next 24 hours we will get the residuals we need to lift the order,” Winder said Wednesday, June 26.

When it is no longer necessary to boil water, the city will issue a notice via Facebook to its customers that the water is safe.

“TCEQ has told us we can’t lift the order until we get the numbers that we are supposed to be getting for our customers,” Winder said. “...We have to go and flush different locations and test the water at those locations to make sure that the customers are getting water at the residuals that we’re supposed to be getting water.”

All water should be boiled prior to consumption. This includes water for drinking, cooking and making ice.

Children, seniors and those with weakened immune systems are vulnerable to harmful bacteria. Impacted customers should boil water for two minutes to ensure that bacteria and microbes are eliminated.

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