The Fayette County Record
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Pipes Still Empty and/or Busted

By Andy Behlen

Hundreds Out of Water Going on 10 Days

Young volunteers helped unload 240 five-gallon jugs of water supplied by the Fayette County Office of Emergency Management. Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom delivered the water. Residents on the bluff have been without running water for over a week after the extreme cold weather last week froze and busted water pipes.
Fayette Water Supply has been updating its customers frequently about progress of getting water service back after the recent storm. They shared this photo Monday saying, “Swiss Alp Well Site Update: Operators were out at the well site all day working to get the well up and running. We are making progress, but every time we get one thing fixed, another problem presents itself.”

Some rural residents in Fayette County have now gone 10 days without running water as of Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Many of the residents still without water live in the Frisch Auf!, Monument Hill and Bluff Haven subdivisions on the Bluff south of La Grange. The Fayette County Water Control and Improvement District (WCID) serves about 600 customers in that area. Their biggest customer is Monument Hill Nursing Home.

District Office Manager Lori Steffek said the system went down during the deep freeze last Monday, Feb. 15, when temperatures dropped to seven degrees. Steffek spoke to the Record on Wednesday, Feb. 24, and said water could begin flowing to customers the following day.

“We have water but we’re asking everyone not to use it right now because we’re trying to pressurize the lines,” Steffek said on Wednesday. “We’re hoping that people can begin using water to flush toilets and rinse by tomorrow. Maybe by the weekend people will be able to wash clothes and run dishwashers.”

Water customers on the Bluff remain under a boil water notice.

“Our biggest priority right now is getting the nursing home pressurized,” Steffek said. “The longer everyone refrains from using water, the quicker we can recharge their lines.”

Fayette County WCID currently gets its water from Fayette Water Supply Corporation (FWSC). Steffek said her organization had to shut down its system for maintenance before the storm after discovering problems in its ground storage tank. Fayette County WCID had been purchasing water from FWSC while making repairs.

“It exacerbated the problem for us as well as Fayette Water Supply,” Steffek said.

FWSC has been battling busted pipes from the freezing weather throughout the County. FWSC General Manager Jim Rebecek told County leaders during a meeting on Monday that four of the Corporation’s seven wells went down during the freeze.

On Wednesday, FWSC reported on its Facebook page that it was having trouble finding components to make repairs to the system. The entire State of Texas is facing shortages of plumbing supplies following last week’s storm.

The Record attempted to contact Rebecek on Wednesday for an update on the repairs. A receptionist at the FWSC office said he was in the field assisting with repairs when we called. We did not get a chance to speak with him before this paper went to press.

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