After almost three days under a boil order plus nearly 10 hours without water, City of Bowie water customers saw the boil water order lifted shortly after noon Thursday.
The major line breaks occurred shortly before 3 p.m. on Tuesday when an eight-inch water main blew out in the construction area at Nelson and Mill. City Manager Bert Cunningham said there was an eight-inch line and a six-inch line coming into that line, which had been uncovered during the construction project. All the lines in this area are being replaced in the drainage project.
The CM said with the lines being opened the contractor had struck them a couple of times requiring a fitting and a clamp; however, being uncovered the cast iron line just collapsed due to the weight. There were not working in that area when it occurred.
“Years ago when these lines were put in there were no valves put into them, which would allow you to shut off a section for repair and allow the system to continue flowing. There were no valves, but the new lines will have three. The tower began to drop quickly because we couldn’t turn it off,” explained the manager.
In order to replace the broken section of line, the entire water system had to be shut down, and per the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality any time the system drops below 32 pounds of pressure there is potential for bacteria and a boil order is required. Three consecutive days of clear water tests are required to lift the order.
City water crews worked far into the night Tuesday and Wednesday morning repairing the line, and they thought it was done shortly before 1 a.m., but when it was pressured up, it had to be redone. It was about 3 a.m. before the system was able to start refilling the tower and pressuring up the system. Wednesday morning water was back up and running, with the boil order in place.
Emergency drinking water was provided and available for pick-up at the city fire hall.