December 28, 2022

Boil Water Notice Rescinded for Prairie Grove Utilities

December 28, 2022

To: Prairie Grove Utilities Customers (Public Water System ID # 0030027)
Subject: BOIL WATER NOTICE RESCINDED

On Friday, December 23, 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) required the Prairie Grove Utilities public water system (PWS ID Number 0030027) to issue a Boil Water Notice to inform customers, individuals, or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

Prairie Grove Utilities has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by Prairie Grove Utilities used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of December 28, 2022.

If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Mr. Chris Key, P.E., Operations Division Manager, Angelina & Neches River Authority at (936) 632-7795 or (800) 282-5634.

If a customer wishes to contact TCEQ, they may call (512) 239-4691.

December 27, 2022

Prairie Grove Utilities – Extreme Winter Weather Update #12

Update – 4:00 p.m. Tuesday:

The news so far today is good.  We began this morning with full tanks as hoped, and as of 3:30 p.m., we’ve only dropped by 11%.

Dropping at all doesn’t sound great, but we expect some during the day because the well is undersized.

It’s normal for usage during the day to outstrip the ability of the system to replenish, and it generally is able to catch up overnight when demand is at its lowest.

The demand we’re seeing so far today is in line with an average day. So we believe most, if not all, of leaks have been found.

Will we be able to leave it on tonight?

We’re can’t promise yet, but likely, yes.

Unless usage spikes significantly this evening, it’s looking VERY likely that we will be able to leave it on.

This evening around 7 p.m. once we see what it looks like after everyone gets home and starts using more water, we will update with a final decision.

These updates all go out over multiple channels: anra.org, the text notification system, and here on Facebook.

If you would like to receive these alerts as text messages, signup is easy. Just text “PGU” to 800-282-5634.

December 23, 2022

Prairie Grove Utilities – Extreme Winter Weather Update

Extreme Winter Weather 6:15 p.m. Update for Prairie Grove Utilities Customers:
 
As of this post, it is clear that there won’t be enough water supply to last through the night.
 
We will be shutting down the water system at 9:00 p.m. tonight.
 
We are doing this tonight so that when we turn water back on in the morning, there will be enough water supply to make it through until the thaw out that will occur after lunch tomorrow.
 
In essence, we are making this decision tonight so that we can better control the timing of outage. Our goal is that in doing this tonight, we can avoid an outage on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
 
We apologize for this inconvenience, but as always, thank you for your understanding!
December 23, 2022

Prairie Grove Utilities – Extreme Winter Weather Event Important Update

Prairie Grove Customers:
Temperatures plunged into the low double digits last night and the system is struggling.
Since yesterday evening, water demand has been exceeding the capacity of the system and water levels in the ground storage tank have dropped significantly.
We have had crews on-site multiple times overnight and again today.
The well is running and the interconnect with Diboll is open, but it’s not keeping up.
At current rates, we anticipate the system will run dry around 2 a.m. tonight.
Water system crews have found two customer-side leaks today already. Temperatures overnight tonight are forecasted to dive back into the middle teens. We anticipate temperatures rising above freezing around noon tomorrow.
Pipes that have frozen and burst will begin to leak dramatically after temperatures rise above freezing. We are asking all residents to inspect their property for water leaks under and around their homes. If you find a leak, turn off your water as quickly as possible.
If the demand doesn’t decrease between now and this evening, we may need to shut the system down overnight to prevent it running dry and give it a chance to partially catch up.
We will have crews on-site beginning tomorrow mid-morning. If you need assistance turning off your water, please post that request on the Prairie Grove Facebook page. We will be monitoring this group page and respond.
***In the meantime, we’re asking customers to minimize using dripping faucets to prevent lines from freezing.***
Take all reasonable preventive measures to insulate your pipes. Unfortunately, the system as it exists today doesn’t have the capacity to protect everyone’s pipes by leaving the water running.
Plans are in place for some stop-gap upgrades in the coming months to carry us to a complete set of upgrades over the next three years, but for this event, we’re going to have to pull together once more to get through.
December 20, 2022

Extreme Winter Weather Event

The East Texas area is expecting extreme low temperatures overnight Thursday, December 22, 2022. Current weather forecasts indicate that overnight temperatures Thursday into Friday morning could reach into the single digits and remain below freezing for 24 to 48 hours.

ANRA is asking all of its retail customers to make preparations now to protect people, pets and plumbing.

           – Adequately insulate all outdoor water faucets, hose bibs and other plumbing devices

           – Turn off and drain water lines where possible

           – For customers who live in elevated structures, (pier and beam homes, mobile homes and RVs) turn off your water and drain 

               water lines

           – Open the cabinet doors below sinks

           – Keep the temperature inside your residence the same at night and during the day when no one is home

ANRA recommends letting faucets drip only if the measures above cannot be achieved.

Remember, while it may be inconvenient to take some of these extreme measures, its much more inconvenient and expensive to do nothing.