City of Victoria mayor Duane Crocker at the July 15 City Council meeting. (Michael Milliorn/Victoria Advocate)

As of 6:30 p.m. July 15, the Boil Water Notice for the City of Victoria has been lifted following TCEQ confirmation that the city’s water system is fully compliant. Residents may now resume normal water use.

At the July 15 City Council meeting, mayor Duane Crocker announced the formation of a council committee tasked with conducting an investigation into the cause of the water quality failure. The committee will thoroughly examine the system including technical, operational and organizational aspects.

“The Boil Water Notice is not just an inconvenience, it is a breach of public trust,” Crocker said. “This incident with our water supply was unacceptable and it demands a thorough review and account.”

The committee intends to reconstruct and verify the full timeline of events and review treatment protocols and equipment performance. The condition of the city’s water-related infrastructure will be evaluated, oversight and accountability measures will be scrutinized and city staff will be engaged, Crocker said.

“No issue will be off the table and no question will go unasked,” Crocker said. “The citizens of Victoria deserve answers, accountability and action. The safety and confidence of our community are paramount. We cannot undo what has already occurred, but we can and must make the changes necessary to ensure it doesn’t happen again. This committee will help lead that effort, and I am personally committed to seeing it through for the betterment of our city and for the benefit of our citizens.”

City of Victoria city manager Jesus Garza gave a detailed timeline of the events leading up to the lifting of the Boil Water Notice at the City Council meeting. TCEQ was on site doing testing on July 8. The testing produced a concern regarding chlorine residuals at the site. TCEQ allows water systems across the state 24 hours to rectify any issues found.

“In every-day operations of the utility system, there are going to be situations that warrant adjusting chemical levels or adjusting other things in order to ensure compliance of the system,” Garza said.

Staff immediately increased the level of chloramines coming out of the surface water treatment plant to ensure chloramine levels across the entire system were at the most optimal level possible. Staff conducted a localized flush on Wednesday, July 9, that was unsuccessful at resolving the issue.

Due to the unsuccessful localized flush, the 24 hour period of time allowed by TCEQ to fix the issue was not met, resulting in the Boil Water Notice being issued at 8:00 p.m. July 9. The city then conducted a system-wide flush taking place the nights of Wednesday, July 9 and Thursday, July 10.
At 2 p.m. on Friday, July 11, the city was notified that the system-wide flush was unsuccessful. The city began chlorine conversion on Saturday, July 12 and Sunday, July 13 to further address the issue. On Monday, July 14, the water system met the required chlorine residuals, as expected, after the chlorine conversion did its thing. 
The city then submitted 16 samples for bacterial testing, a 24 hour process.

The city’s chlorine conversion will continue through August 12 before regular treatment methods are returned to. Aquarium and dialysis users should continue adjusted pretreatment.

“I take full responsibility as city manager for any element of this that might have been preventable, whether that be through the lack of technology, training or anything else,” Garza said. “It is my sole job to ensure that our entire organization and city and other services that we provide are performed in a professional and reputable manner that continues to grow the trust of the community. It’s not lost on me that this situation has [delivered] a blow to that trust. I assure you that everybody involved with this situation internally has taken that responsibility very personally.”

Questions regarding the $10 rebates for water bills had been raised in the community. The rebate amount was decided based on a combination of the average water base rate and sewer base rate per month. The monthly sum of the two rates was determined to be approximately $40. The boil water notice was in effect for one week, resulting in the set rebate of $10.

Michael Milliorn is a news reporter for the Victoria Advocate. He can be reached at michael.milliorn@vicad.com.