Water Conservation Urged In Austin Amid Severe Winter Weather

AUSTIN, TX — In the midst of what has already been a very difficult few days for Austin residents, Mayor Steve Adler is calling for the community to band together as power outages and multiple other issues brought on by the extreme winter weather may bring on more tough days ahead.

As Austin Energy crews work around the clock to restore power to more than 185,000 residents, however, water conservation remains the top priority, Adler said Wednesday. Austin Water officials said that the combination of burst pipes, water main breaks and residents allowing their faucets to drip to keep pipes from freezing has created considerable stress on the city’s water system.

Adler said that nearly 300 million gallons of city water have been used over a 24-hour period due to myriad issues facing city residents due to the historic storm. That demand led Adler to call on residents to limit their water use as much as possible as a winter weather warning remains over the region through Thursday evening.

“It would be one thing if we were just dealing with COVID, but on top of that, to be dealing with the power situation and on top of that, to be dealing with the ice and snow (is problematic) and now, on top of that, we are dealing with the water situation," Adler said Wednesday.

Adler said that the city’s current water usage has risen to levels two to three times higher than ever seen before. Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said that over the past 36 hours, the city’s water system has undergone significant changes due to dozens of water main breaks and thousands of pipes bursting in private residences across the area.

Although residents were once being encouraged to allow faucets to drip to keep pipes from freezing, Adler and Meszaros said that is no longer feasible due to the stresses on the city’s water system.

Meszaros said that allowing a few faucets to drip at once can quickly produce a gallon of water. Over a day’s time, one house could produce 1,400 gallons of water, which multiplied by thousands of homes doing that would drain the city’s water supply and reservoirs, the director of Austin Water said Wednesday.

Adler and Meszaros called on residents to limit water use as well as the use of appliances like washing machines and dishwashers, both of which increase the amount of water being used.

Austin Water has already issued boil orders for the city’s southwest side and for Lost Creek. While Meszaros said he is not yet ready to issue a citywide order like that issued recently in Houston, the possibility of doing so cannot be taken off the table. Due to the strains on the city’s water supply, water pressure has diminished significantly in certain parts of the city, which has led to boil orders being put in place, Meszaros said.

That has led to water conservation topping the list of priorities for the city, Adler said.

“I know the issues that we’re going to have to deal with,” the mayor said. “I know the anger and the frustration, but we really need to focus on getting through the next couple of days.”

The water issue comes at a time when Austin Power officials said Wednesday that crews have been harassed by residents frustrated with the loss of power in their homes. Austin Power General Manager Jackie Sargent said that workers have been cursed at, had snowballs thrown at them as they continue to address power issues that have cut power to hundreds of thousands of residents.

Because of the number of medical facilities and government offices located in Austin, power supply cannot be cut to essential offices. As the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has called for municipalities to take measures to deal with the storm due to damage being caused to the grid across the state, Adler said that ERCOT was not prepared for a storm like this.

In response to the abuse being shown to Austin Power crews, Adler said, "this is not who we are as a city" and asked residents to remain patient as work continues to restore power. However, both ERCOT officials as well as Austin Power officials said they cannot say when power will be restored to normal levels as millions across the state remain without power.

"I see and understand how many people are scared and frustrated, confused and angry – and I am too,” Adler said.

He added: "We have several days here that are going to be tough and from all indications, they are going to get tougher than where they are right now."