Houston doubles spending to fix pipes that have leaked 20 billion gallons of water so far this year
A monthly breakdown of the number of gallons of lost water and the percentage of the total water supply for January – August of 2022:The city is poised to at least double its annual spending on waterline repairs, citing two years of pipe breaks and leaks driven in part by ongoing drought conditions.
In June, record temperatures and a significant drop in rainfall prompted the city to issue a drought advisory — which remains ongoing — asking residents to limit outdoor watering and routinely check for water leaks. The last time Houston issued such restrictions was during a more severe state-wide drought in 2011, Jones said.
The city issued five emergency purchase orders in July for additional repair needs. In September, it asked another vendor to carry out extra waterline inspection services. Council approved those purchases Wednesday. All of the agreements are nine-month long, and the work is ongoing. Jones said that partly was due to city outreach efforts to inform residents of the drought. The result, she said, more people called 311 even as water losses became less severe later in the summer.
“So all that needs to be considered and, hopefully, residents out there will understand that when they cut off the water, it’s not because they're just standing there and nothing's happening," Gallegos said."It's that there are issues like trying to find out where the cut-off valve is.”While the ongoing drought is a main contributor to recent water losses, the city's aging infrastructure also needs to be taken into account, advocacy groups say.
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