Our extraordinary Utility crews respond quickly to repair over 20 water main breaks!
The City of Odessa experienced a severe cold spell beginning Monday January 30th, 2023, that stayed below freezing temperatures through Wednesday February 1st, 2023.
Historically when the city experiences a freeze event for several days, we see a higher-than-average number of water main breaks once it starts to thaw out. The ground warms up and begins to shift, which can cause breaks.
In this situation, the Utility department provides notice to crews and various departments to be on standby, and that they may be called in to help to assist over the critical period from all as needed the rest of the week and weekend.
As expected with temperatures warming Thursday, we had main line ruptures which have continued through today as indicated below.
Main line breaks:
- Thursday, 4 ea. cast iron pipes.
- Friday, 4 ea. cast iron pipes.
- Saturday 4 ea. - 3 ea. cast iron pipes and 1 A.C (cement) pipe.
- Sunday, 3 ea. cast iron pipes.
- Monday, 6 ea. cast Iron pipes.
That brings the total to 21 main line breaks as of 2:30 p.m. today. Sizes were all 6” except for one 12” cast iron pipe.
All were 40 years and older cast iron piping in our system, in the older sections of town, which occurs in most cities across the nation.
On Saturday, crews worked 16 hours days. Besides having Awesome crews, the direction, support and experience of Tony Madrid, Distribution & Collection Manager, made things go very smoothly.
The City of Odessa wants to express our deepest appreciation for every crew member’s extraordinary effort over the past few days to restore valuable utility services to our citizens and businesses so they can continue with their lives. Many may not realize it, but it is you that does the hard work of restoring our community after the storm. It’s the behind-the-scenes type of work that makes a huge impact on our community. We recognize these Utility Crews for all the important work that they do for our great community! Thank you!!