East Texas city on fourth day of boil water notice
Residents are frustrated with city response
OVERTON, Texas (KLTV) - Overton is on day four of the boil water notice after residents were left without running water for two days last week.
After a valve in one of their wells broke, the city shut off all running water for two days.
While that well has been fixed, the water has not been approved for drinking, and therefore residents and businesses are having to either boil it or buy it.
One resident who asked to be anonymous says the loss of water is “far from ideal in the current heat. ”They also say that in their experience, “the city goes radio silent on actual city issues so the residents rely on each other” for information, typically via Facebook.
This resident is moving out of Overton, partly because of the issues with the water, calling them “ridiculous.”
The boil water notice has also affected restaurants that are having to boil gallons of water to use for cooking and having to buy bottled water to serve customers.
City Manager Shane West spoke off camera and says people need to stop overusing water so they can regain the pressure and control the supply.
He says the hydro boosters that usually provide pressure are not working, and with only one well supplying the water, residents are urged to conserve it.
Officials are unsure when exactly the second well will be up and running, but it could take about two weeks for the cleaning and repairs process.
According to the City Manager, even though the city has sent samples to Ana-Lab in Kilgore for quality testing, the decline in pressure and overuse of the current supply has put the city at risk to lose running water yet again.
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