The City of Odessa pulled its water samples at 1:45 p.m. Friday and if all goes well, Odessans will be able to start consuming city water again at the same time on Saturday.
Odessa Utilities Director Tom Kerr said shortly before 11 a.m. Friday the city’s entire water system had been replenished, but the chlorine levels weren’t quite where they needed to be for water samples to be taken and tested for harmful bacteria.
However, the chlorine reached the appropriate levels just before 2 p.m. and so his staff took 8-10 water samples from around the city at that time. If they show no signs of harmful bacteria and microbes within 24 hours, a boil alert put into place around 1 a.m. Tuesday will be lifted, he said.
On rare occasions in similar situations, tests have come back positive and in those cases, the 24-hour clock will start again, Kerr said.
Hopefully, people will be able to resume brushing their teeth and using water by 1:45 p.m. Saturday, but residents should wait for a formal notice, Kerr said.
The city was planning to stop distributing water at the Ector County Coliseum at noon Friday and they were going to disband their command center, said Odessa Fire Rescue Chief John Alvarez.
The City of Odessa learned around dinner time Monday that a major, 24-inch water line had sprung a leak at 42nd and San Jacinto streets.
On Monday, crews were unable to isolate the original leak because of a faulty 69-year-old valve that they tried to access from above ground, Kerr said. Because they were unsuccessful, the city was forced to shutdown the city’s water plant, which prompted the boil alert to be issued.
The crews finished repairing the line around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday, but discovered a “manageable leak” around a repair fitting later in the day.
Because of the new leak, Kerr said crews began digging up the intersection of 42nd Street and Andrews Highway Wednesday night to reach and repair the valve. Crews reached the valve around 7 a.m. Thursday morning, but were unable to fix it.
On Friday, crews were installing a saddle on the 24-inch pipeline near the valve. Once finished, they will install a stopple and pour 100,000 pounds of concrete around it to hold back 34,000 pounds of pressure, Kerr said. Once the concrete is set, they’ll be able to cut out and replace the faulty valve and finish up the repairs further up the street at San Jacinto and 42nd streets.
