SAN BENITO — The city’s water plant crisis has raised serious questions.
Across town, residents such as Julian Rios want to know if the city risks going without water for longer periods.
“What is the plan for a catastrophic failure of the plant — if a valve shuts down and you can’t pull water from Harlingen?” Rios, who works at Chuy’s Custom Sports, asked yesterday.
Rios said he wants to know the costs associated with the shutdown.
“As concerned citizens, we have a right to know everything wrong with the plant,” Rios said.
Right now, the city is waiting to find out if its water is safe to drink following a shutdown of its old water plant.
Today, officials expect to receive lab results to determine whether they can lift a warning advising residents to boil water before drinking it.
The city issued the water boil notice about 11 p.m. Sunday, about four hours after the water plant lost pressure, cutting water flow across town. An existing agreement led Harlingen to supply water to the city.
“The boil notice was issued because of low water pressure and not because of contamination in the system,” City Manager Manuel De La Rosa said yesterday.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires that cities issue water boil notices when water pressure drops to low levels.
De La Rosa blamed low temperatures for problems that led the old water plant to shut down at about 7 p.m. Sunday.
At about 1 a.m. Saturday, the water plant’s air line developed moisture that began freezing after temperatures dipped into the upper 30s, De La Rosa said.
“The weather was playing havoc on our valves,” Mayor Celeste Sanchez said.
At the San Benito school district, officials turned to bottled water.
“San Benito CISD students are currently being provided with safe drinking water until the City of San Benito’s water is deemed safe to consume,” spokeswoman Celia Longoria said in a statement.
Under the district’s Child Nutrition Program, she said, the district had distributed more than 1,500 gallons of water as of mid Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, water pressure “has not been affected” at schools, Longoria said.
De La Rosa said it’s the second time the city has turned to Harlingen for water.
In September, the old water plant lost pressure after a waterline break, leading the city to rely on Harlingen for water.
“We’re providing water on an emergency basis,” Harlingen City Manager Dan Serna said.
Under the agreement, Serna said, Harlingen charges the city a base fee of $963 as part of schedule that charges $2.54 per 1,000 gallons.
