UPDATED: Thousands of Gallons of Water Flow Down City Streets

There’s a new river in San Angelo, and this one’s man made. 

Flowing from the water tank on Van Buren Street located in the parking lot of the Robert Massie Dorms, up Jackson to Ave. N, then onward to Austin Street just before Bryant, where it pools in the right-hand turning lane, the river constitutes thousands of gallons of treated water the Water Distribution Authority is pumping out of the tank.

As of 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, two Water Distribution employees were on scene at the tank, operating two pumps that dispensed the water from the big blue hull onto the ground and into the streets.

Some citizens expressed concern at the loss of water, however city officials state that the worries are pre-mature.

Assistant Director of Water Utilities, Kevin Krueger stated, ”We have a storage tank there near ASU, and there’s some piping leading to that main tank that needs that repair. We need to drain that tank and we’ve let ASU use as much of that water as possible for irrigation.”

According to Krueger, there was about a foot to a foot-and-a-half of water in the tank Thursday morning that needed to be removed. 

“In other words, it gets down to a point where it’s not like sucking milk out of a glass with a straw, where you can get every last drop. It gets to the point where you can’t really pump anymore, and then you’ve got to release the rest of that water to make the repair,” City Public Information Officer Anthony Wilson explained.

This is the second time that water has been removed from the tank in the past six weeks, however it is still unclear how much water was initially removed and why it has had to be done again.

The tank has a 3 million gallon capacity, and city officials say that upon the first round of emptying, it was about three-quarters full. The foot-and-a-half of water released on Wednesday is estimated to equal approximately 115,000 gallons.

It is still unclear why the tank has been drained twice, and how much water has been released in total, however officials state that both instances were maintanence related.

Water Distribution employees on site suggested that a problem with the piping has led to water bleeding back into the tank, resulting in the need to drain it again, however this could not be confirmed with a City official.

“I’m just doing my job,” said a worker on site. Both Water Distribution employees stated, however, that the water will run off into storm drains, draws and rivers, and that it shouldn’t be viewed as if the city were irresponsibly dispensing gallons of the San Angelo's most precious, high-demand resource.

Krueger also added that the pumping is controlled and part of routine maintenance, and that City Water officials have made efforts to conserve as much water as possible during the maintenance procedures.