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The temperature in Odessa, Texas, hit 100 degrees on Tuesday as officials announced a water line break in the city had left “a significant portion” of residents without water while repairs are being made.
The break happened late on Monday, officials said. The water line failure affects approximately 165,000 Texans, according to a press release from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.
The outage comes amid a severe heat wave impacting Texas and many other states – temperatures are expected to remain in the high 90s for the rest of the week in the Odessa area.
Crews have been working on isolating the break in the line, but the process is taking longer than expected, according to a Tuesday release. The city estimates the water will be restored for many residents by Wednesday morning, officials said during a press conference. After the repair is done, it should take approximately 10 to 12 hours for the plant to restart.
“As we have never done this before, (restarting) an entire system like this, we are making those predictions based on a good guess, but there could be some changes,” said Thomas Kerr, Director of Public Works and Utilities.
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A disaster declaration has been issued by local officials, and Abbott said state resources were being deployed to help restore the local water supply.
“The State of Texas is taking swift action to respond to Odessa’s impacted water supply and support the local community in meeting their water needs,” Abbott said in a press release. “I urge residents in Odessa to follow guidance from local officials and take the proper precautions to ensure their health and safety as we work together to restore safe tap water in the community.”
The news is the latest infrastructure failure in Texas, where widespread power outages during February of last year left community members vulnerable to frigid weather.
Limited amounts of bottled water are being distributed to residents on Tuesday, city officials announced.
There is also a boil water notice for most of the city, stating that those who can get water from the faucet ought to boil it for two minutes before consuming or using it to cook or brush their teeth.
Be safe and make sure to boil your water or consider buying a water filtration system like the AquaOx Water Filter.
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- June 14, 2022
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- Boil Advisory