Shock & Thaw

Some Without Water a Week

Fayette Water Supply Corporation (FWSC) continues to battle leaks and water well problems following the historic winter storm last week.

The corporation issued several boil water notices as water started flowing again late last week to many customers who had been out of water for days. But Saturday, FWSC reported that it’s well in Swiss Alp would remain down for several more days due to busted pipes.

Some FWSC customers and residents of the Frisch Auf! area remained out of water Sunday, and have been out of water since last Monday.

Fayette County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau helped FWSC find some specialty fittings over the weekend that will help get some parts of the water system back online.

“Fayette Water Supply needed some large diameter steel fittings to get some of their equipment back online,” Moreau told the Record. “The fittings are really hard to find. The call went out on Facebook for anyone who knew where we could find these fittings.”

Moreau said someone put him in touch with a specialty supplier in New Caney that had the fittings.

“We drove to New Caney on Saturday to this specialty supplier that opened up for us, and he gave all the fittings we needed,” Moreau said. “We delivered them Saturday night to Jim Rebecek (FWSC general manager), and the crews got to work right away.”

FWSC is asking customers to conserve water while crews track down and plug leaks throughout the system. Customers should report leaks by calling (979) 968-6475.

Local stores selling piping supplies was swamped Saturday and people tried to patch leaks.

Farmers Lumber had over 600 transactions that day alone, many of them involving water pipe. Midmorning Saturday at Sutherland’s in La Grange, a checker said she only had three transactions that did not include some water pipe.