Residents Asked to Temporarily Boil Water

By Matt Smith, Cleburne Times-Review, Texas

Jul. 21–Cleburne city officials recommend that residents and businesses temporarily boil water until further notice.

“We’re asking our residents and businesses to boil water as a precautionary measure,” City Manager Chester Nolen said. “Understandably, this may cause problems for some, however, this is a temporary situation that will be remedied in the next 24-48 hours.”

Two of the four pumps at the Cleburne Water Treatment Plant went out of service for about 20 minutes Monday.

These pumps send water from the treatment plant at Lake Pat Cleburne for distribution in the city. The outage caused a lack of water pressure in some parts of the system, Nolen said. Some areas experienced water pressure of less than 20 pounds per square inch, he said. By law, pressure that low requires the city to notify the public to boil water for the next 24 hours or until further notice.

“It’s an unfortunate series of events,” Mayor Ted Reynolds said. “But I’m proud of how quickly the city staff got on top of the situation. I hope our citizens will work with us and understand that the city is working to alleviate the problem as quickly as possible.”

The pumps are operating properly at this time, and no contamination of the system is known to exist, Nolen said. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will have to test the system and clear it before the boil notice can be lifted, Nolen said.

Notification of the ban’s lift will posted in the Times-Review and at www.cleburne.net. Radio stations KCLE 1140 AM and the city’s emergency radio station, 1670 AM, will also announce when the ban lifts.

To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to consumption. Water should be brought to a rolling boil, then boiled for two minutes.

Tanker trucks from the Bono and Liberty Chapel fire departments are in town to assist should backup be needed because of a lack of water pressure, Cleburne Assistant Fire Chief Keith Scarbrough said.

Residents are asked not to call 911 abut the situation unless there is an emergency.

Those with questions about the boil notification should contact:

–Denise Jones, public works administrative coordinator 817-645-0942

–Cynde Berge, water utilities secretary 817-645-0946

–Bill Pannell, water utilities superintendent 817-645-0946

–David Esquivel, interim public works director 817-645-0942

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Copyright (c) 2008, Cleburne Times-Review, Texas

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