Power Outage Causes Spill At Round Rock Treatment Plant

ROUND ROCK, TX — A power outage over the weekend caused some 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater to spill into Brushy Creek, killing fish but not compromising the city's drinking water supply, officials said on Tuesday.

City officials said in a Tuesday press advisory the power outage occurred at 8:10 p.m. on Sunday, June 23, at the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in far east Round Rock. The outage caused a failure at an influent lift station, which in turn prompted the spill.

City officials said the spill was contained by 9:40 p.m., but not before fish were killed as a result. City officials provided no estimate as to how many fish were killed as a result. Cleanup started on Monday morning, officials added.

"The overflow has not affected the public drinking water supply, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been notified," officials wrote.

Here's how city officials described the breakdown: "The overflow was caused by a power failure in the electronic system that controls pumps at the site as well as the loss of backup power. As a result, all lift station pumps at the plant shut down. The overflow occurred at a manhole just outside a fence near the southeast corner of the plant, which is south of U.S. 79 and west of Red Bud Lane (County Road 122)."

As a result of the spill, city officials urged residents to take the following precautions:

• Residents using private drinking water supply wells located within a half-mile of the spill site or within the potentially affected area should use only water that has been distilled or boiled at a rolling boil for at least one minute for all personal uses including drinking, cooking, bathing and tooth brushing. Individuals with private water wells should have their well water tested and disinfected, if necessary, prior to discontinuing distillation or boiling.
• Those who purchase water from a public water supply may contact their water supply distributor to determine if the water is safe for personal use.
• The public should avoid contact with waste material, soil or water in the area potentially affected by the spill.
• If the public comes into contact with waste material, soil or water potentially affected by the spill, they should bathe and wash clothes thoroughly as soon as possible.

The Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment System is jointly owned and operated by the cities of Round Rock, Cedar Park and Austin. Residents with concerns or questions related to the incident were referred to the Utilities and Environmental Services Department at (512) 844-9225.

Map via City of Round Rock.

The incident marks the second time in just over three months that a mechanical failure at a water treatment plant has led to unwanted discharge in a city on the northern outskirts of Austin. In Pflugerville this past March, a pump failure at the Gilleland Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant led to a spill of some 3.4 million gallons of treated, chlorinated water into the namesake creek there.

Related story: Pump Fail Dumps 3.4M Gallons Of Chlorinated Water In Pflugerville

The incident marked the second time in just over three years that a major spill of chlorinated water has occurred at the creek. According to information found on the City of Pflugerville website, a contractor inadvertently ruptured an 8-inch water main that caused a spill of 560,000 gallons of chlorinated water into the creek.

A Texas Parks and Wildlife investigation found the 2015 discharge killed about 1,575 fish, according to the website. The restitution value of the lost fish and investigation cost was calculated at the time to be $1,047, city officials reported.In the wake of this week's spill, city officials outlined a series of safety tips for residents drawing from the local tap, just as Round Rock officials did on Tuesday.