As most Rockdalians know, the decision to fix the city’s water issues was approved by the city council last year. This is an enormous undertaking, and the project was kicked down the road by several past city councils, but it is now going to be done.
At the last council meeting, Public Works Director Jerald Brunson shared an update of where we currently are in the life of Rockdale’s water system. And where we are is in a failing system.
A special city council meeting was held Tuesday night, Nov. 22, after press time which was called to specifically address the waterline replacement work plan.
TCEQ— The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is the governing body whose responsibility is making sure Rockdale’s water, and every other city’s water, is safe for its citizens. The TCEQ was in town on Nov. 9 investigating a customer complaint of high levels of magnesium that was causing the red water. Rockdale’s utility department documentation and on-site testing by the TCEQ field agent found that all of the city’s water samples met state regulations in every category.
The reason the water is sometimes red is because it is inherently acidic which means it has a pH level that is less than 7.0. Without proper treatment the water is considered corrosive to metal piping. The parts of Rockdale’s distribution system that are more than 40 years old (and some newer than that) are predominantly cast iron. Corrosive water causes tuberculation, the development or formation of small mounds of rust on the inside of cast iron pipes, one cause of the red water.
IRON— Another cause is that our aquifer has higher than allowable levels of iron and manganese. These are secondary elements that pose no threat to health, but they are another cause of red water and must be controlled by state regulation and is monitored by TCEQ.
The City of Rockdale’s water system is in Stage 6, according to Brunson. This stage consists of failing pipes which are brittle, have thinning walls and reduced capacity due to the building up of the rust. Because it is treated, the water, itself, is not acidic or corrosive, and the water levels meet TCEQ standards. The water quality leaving the ground storage tanks is clear or rated excellent. The water quality delivered to residents depends on the pipe the water must travel though to get there.
In other words, it’s not the water, it’s the pipes causing red water. And replacing the cast iron pipes will be included in the comprehensive plan.
SOCIAL MEDIA— Brunson would also like some Rockdalians to stop their attacks about the water on the city’s social media. He even told the city council that city employees out working on the leaks have been verbally attacked while on the job.
The magnitude of this upcoming replacement project is going to be disruptive to individual properties, streets and whole neighborhoods. Rockdale’s citizens should all get used to the fact that it’s not going to be pretty, but it will be worth it to finally fix the age-old red water problems.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.