June 17, 2023
To: Prairie Grove Utilities Customers (Public Water System ID # 0030027)
Subject: BOIL WATER NOTIFICATION
Due to low water pressures in the water distribution system, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required the Prairie Grove Utilities public water system (PWS ID Number 0030027) to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc.). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions.
To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, Prairie Grove Utilities officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking or human consumption purposes. Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, Prairie Grove Utilities will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Mr. Chris Key, P.E., Executive Manager, Utilities, Angelina & Neches River Authority at (936) 632-7795 or (800) 282-5634.
If you wish to contact TCEQ, you may call 512-239-4691.
Update Saturday 12pm:
Since our last post, we’ve been carefully monitoring the tank levels, and unfortunately, they’re sticking very close to the worst case forecast that we provided yesterday afternoon.
If current demand levels continue, the tanks will be below 7 ft at 11pm tonight. (Tanks are full at 17 ft, and are at 11 ft at the time of this message)
Safety’s built into the tank fill controls shut the system down once it gets too low.
Unless something drastic changes between now and then, our plan is to shut the system down at 9pm to allow it to recover overnight and have it back on at 7 am tomorrow morning for showers and the like. We will likely need to either shut it down again midday Sunday or overnight between Sunday and Monday, but we will make that determination after we see the demand Sunday morning.
The more we can conserve today, the better off we’re going to be. If any of your friends or neighbors are not on social media seeing these messages, please let them know whats going on, and everyone please, please discontinue any outdoor water use.
We’ll post an update this evening or as needed.
As always, we appreciate your understanding, patience, and help with these conservation measures.
A draft of ANRA’s 2023 Clean Rivers Program Basin Highlights Report is now available for public review and comment.
The document is available on the CRP reports page at anra.org.
Comments will be accepted via email at crp@anra.org until 5 pm CST June 9, 2023
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We appreciate your participation!
The following customer notice is required by the TCEQ as a result of the non-compliances associated with Disinfection Byproducts Monitoring. This customer notice has also been mailed directly to every active water customer of the utility.
Customer Notice TTHM Violations 2023-05-08Update 7pm Tuesday:
Since 4pm, the demand has continued to be reasonable, so we’re going to leave the system on.
We intend to read meters tomorrow. Our crews have already looked at just about every meter in the system, but a full meter read will help us find any smaller leaks that might remain.
We hope to be able to lift the boil water notice at some point tomorrow as well.
Thank you again for your understanding, patience, encouragement, and good attitudes as we went through this at seemingly the most inconvenient time possible.
Have a good night, and if you spot the guys out reading meters tomorrow, wave at them and give them a thumbs up. They deserve it.