STUDY BUTTE-TERLINGUA, Texas — UPDATE: The Study Butte Water Supply Company held another supplemental meeting on Wednesday.
According to their website:
"We are still under the Do Not Use order, we did receive the test results for VOC and metals, as well as the E.coli and Coliform; all came back negative/within acceptable levels. We are waiting for the results of the SOC and another round of bacteriological. *fingers crossed* We should have them by the end of the week."
We will continue to update about this situation.
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NewsWest 9 has been covering it for a few days now: the TCEQ required the Study Butte Water Supply Company to notify their 291 customers not to use the tap water.
Thursday night, they held a townhall meeting that saw almost 40 customers show up to get answers about the water.
The meeting discussed what exactly happened and when the customers should expect their water to come back.
A timeline of events was provided to each customer that explained what happened.
The first going back to Sept. 2 when one of their wells experienced failure. Two drilling companies were called and diagnosed several problems with the well.
An emergency meeting was held on Sept. 27 and the repairs were given a go-ahead.
A power outage happened on Sept. 30, lasting 12 hours, however, there was some miscommunication with the drilling company, as they had not received the go-ahead.
Another power outage happened on Oct. 5.
On Oct. 9, the level of water in the tanks dropped below acceptable levels and water conservation requests were posted.
Water began to be trucked in from surrounding areas to help raise the water on Oct. 10, a boil water notice being posted as a precaution.
The repairs to the well started on Oct. 12 with a backup generator.
On Oct. 14, the TCEQ notice was put in place, as the trucks used to haul water were not certified for potable water transport. It's noted that this was a precaution, as they weren't sure if the water was contaminated but wanted to be careful.
Since then, the proper steps from Study Butte have been taken, and as of Thursday, Oct. 19, TCEQ notified them that they could start running the well.
According to the board, customers should expect to get their water back sooner rather than later.
"We're going to be running some tests up to Austin, I think Monday or Tuesday," Study Butte Water Board Member Bill Gilles said. "Once that's done, we get a clear, it'll be full usage again. All the water we hauled was put through the RO system, reverse osmosis system, which would be required to do here because of our water that we pump out of the wells and through the chlorinator. Like I said in the meeting, I drank the water, bathed in the water and I have no side effects.
The board wants it to be known that the results of this catastrophe have helped them be prepared in case something like this happens again.
There will be a second meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. at the Terlingua EMS station.
Here's the full timeline of events:
- 9/2: Well #2 experienced failure.
- 9/4: Arrowhead Drilling contacted to diagnose well #2.
- 9/8: Arrowhead Drilling began to pull well #2 but was unable to complete the project.
- 9/8: Skinner Drilling was contacted.
- 9/11: Skinner Drilling arrived and pulled well #2 and diagnosed several problems/repairs needed.
- 9/25: Received estimate for well repairs from Skinner Drilling.
- 9/27: Emergency meeting held and the BOD voted to accept the estimate and proceed with the repairs; Skinner was notified with the go ahead.
- 9/30: Power outage lasting roughly 12 hours, Well #I not running during this time.
- 10/4: Contacted Skinner Drilling to get an estimate on how long repairs will take; Skinner stated he had not received the go ahead; Go ahead was re-sent and receipt confirmed.
- 10/5: Power outage lasting about 5 hours; Well #1 not running during this time.
- 10/9: The level of water in the storage tanks dropped below acceptable levels (the amount of water going out exceeded the amount of water Well #1 was pumping in); Water conservation requests were posted.
- 10/10: Water began to be trucked in from surrounding areas to help raise the level of water in the tanks; it was input into the system and run through the RO and chlorinator, Boil Notice was posted as a precaution.
- 10/11: SBWSC Rented a backup generator in case of power outage.
- 10/12: Repairs to Well #2 started with the cleaning of the casing in Well #2; backup generator arrived and was set up.
- 10/13: Meeting agenda and notice for the regular monthly meeting scheduled for Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. at the SBWSC Office was posted at the required and usual posting sites: The SBWSB website and the bulletin board at the Terlingua Post office.
- 10/14: TCEQ contacted SBWSC and required the posting of the Do No Use Notice: the decision to issue this notice was based on the fact that some of the trucks used to hall water were not certified for potable water transport. The notice was posted on the website and at the bulletin & board at the Terlingua Post Office. SBWSC began requesting detailed information on the type of each vehicle and a history of usage from the entities responsible for the vehicles per TCEQ's request.
- 10/16: Monthly meeting held, The current situation was discussed including the series of events leading up to the situation, the status of repairs, and plans/steps, to prevent this from happening again. A decision was made to have a townhall style meeting as soon as we could (3 days per Open Meetings Act Requirements). The date was set for 10/19 at 6 p.m. at the Red Patillo Building. It was also decided to have a second meeting on Wednesday 10/25 at 10 a.m. at the Terlingua EMS station.
- 10/18: The Requested paperwork regarding the trucks was submitted to TCEQ. Repairs to Well #2 completed and disinfected. Samples collected for testing, see below for details.
- 10/19: TCEQ notified SBWSC that it was okay to start running Well #2.
Collected by Jorge and driven to the lab in Odessa on 10/19:
- TDS, Chloride, and Sulfite (Normal monthly samples)
- E. coli and Coliform (Normal monthly samples)
- Radium-228, Radium-226 and Uranium (Normal quarterly samples);
- Collected by TCEQ approved collector and driven to the lab in on 10/19:
- VOC (volatile organic compounds) and metal samples (Not normally taken)
- Acidification, pH, Turbidity, visible particles, uranium, Gross Alpha, Gross Beta, Radium-226 and Radium-228 (Normal quarterly samples)
- These will be delivered to the TCEQ lab Thursday with a rush order on the processing.
- Once they receive the results, TCEQ will evaluate them and provide Study Butte with the next steps.
Repairs/upgrades to Well #2:
- Acid wash, scrubbing, and removal of debris.
- Replaced the cable connecting the motor/pump to the above ground power source.
- Replaced motor.
- 126 feet of damaged pipe replaced with new stainless steel pipe.
- Added a second electrical meter so that each well will be running off of their own power source.
- Upgraded the control panel for well #2.
- Replaced all of the wiring connected to the well, the meter, and the control panel.
Notes on Backup Generator:
- The original backup generator purchased based on the recommendation of the engineering company using grant monies around 2016 does not function to meet our current needs.
- SBWSC has been working to upgrade the generator to the appropriate size.
- Judge Henington has notified SBWSC that grant monies from Brewster County have been set aside for SBWSC to purchase the needed generators.
- Based on current needs and advice from electricians and well maintenance companies we are planning on purchasing 2 propane powered generators. It is estimated that we will have them installed in 120-150 days.