The original version of this article appeared in Inside Climate News. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit independent news agency that covers energy, climate and the environment. This article is reproduced with the permission of its author. Subscribe to their newsletter by clicking here.
Note from the Editor: Read Delger Erdenesanaa’s interview with Jennifer Walker, a water policy expert, as part of Drifting towards Disaster, our new series about Texas’ waterways.
Many Texas cities have suffered the hottest summer ever recorded, resulting in millions of dollars of damage to their municipal plumbing. They also lost huge amounts of water due to a severe drought.
The state’s authorities are unable to control the widespread leakages, despite their pleas for conservation of water and restrictions on outdoor water usage. Texas’s water system impacts highlight both the vulnerability and high cost of adapting to climate change.
The intense heat and the drop in rainfall has dried the soil, leading to a shifting of water lines, said Erin Jones. Houston had its hottest ever summer this year. When the pipes move, they can cause the joints to break and leak water.
Jones said that the city of Houston, which budgets almost $20 million annually for water line repairs, has authorized an additional $33 million in spending this year to bring in contractors to help municipal workers with repairs. In 2022 there were only 300 calls at around this time. Jones stated that the city budgets nearly $20 million per year for repairs to water lines. This year, an extra $33 million has been authorized to hire contractors to assist municipal workers in repairs.
The brittleness and age of the pipes, as well as the high demands on the water infrastructure in the city, are also contributing factors to leaks. This is despite all the appeals for conservation and the directives. Jones stated that “the demand for the system is increasing due to increased leaks and customers using more water.”
Texas loses billions of gallons and millions of dollars each year due to leaking pipes. Texas’ water utilities have reported that in 2021, which is the latest year with data available, 30.6 billion gallons of water were lost due to leaks and breaks. Texas Water Development Board (a state-run water authority) estimated that an additional 101.6 gallons were lost in 2021.
In 2021, these losses accounted for a total of 12 percent of all reported water usage and were estimated to cost $266,000,000 (including the cost of production of water that was lost but not repairs of broken pipes). Texas experienced below-average temperatures in the summer of that year and almost no drought. This year’s figures, which won’t be released until 2024 are expected to reflect much higher losses and costs.
Texas experienced record temperatures in the summer of this year. The heatwave that swept across China, Morocco and Bolivia also broke records. This made it the hottest summer on record since 1940.
U.S. Drought Monitor shows that more than 50% of Texas is experiencing “extreme” drought, while nearly a third are in “severe” drought. Groundwater levels within aquifers and reservoirs have reached alarmingly low values.
John Nielsen-Gammon is the director of Texas A&M University’s Southern Regional Climate Center. He says that this was Texas’ second-hottest summer ever, behind 2011. For meteorologists, the summer is from June to August.
Houston was not the only city that experienced extreme heat. San Antonio was one of them. Water mains broke an average of 470 times per month between January and June, but then increased to 725 during July and to 1,076 during August due to the extreme heat.
This does not include the cost of repairs on pipes that are located in private properties and connect water mains with homes or businesses. Anne Hayden is a San Antonio Water System spokesperson. She said, “It has been a tough summer.”
According to Laredo’s city water utility (which is the water company), the water system in Laredo spent $464,00 on 89 repairs of water mains in July and august, compared with $106,000 for 72 repairs done in 2021.
Even a small break in a pipe can cost hefty amounts of money, as pipes are usually located beneath roads. According to Joe Hoepken of Austin Water, an engineer who supervises repairs, the cost can range from $5,000 up to $10,000 for each incident.
Hoepken explained that a typical repair involves tearing into the asphalt or concrete. Then, it is sleeving a new section of pipe and cutting away a few inches of the old pipe.
Austin has repaired 464 mains of water and service lines between July and August. This is up from the 300 that were fixed in 2021, and 435 by 2022.
KOSA News in West Texas reported a spike in the number of water main breakages that disrupted service in Midland at the end of last month. KJTL News in North Texas reported an increase of the same kind in Wichita Falls.
Perry Fowler of Texas Water Infrastructure Network (a lobbying group for the water sector) said that Texas cities had been struggling with costs to address water leaks even before the damage this summer.
He stated that the Texas Water Fund, a fund of $1 billion that would provide funding for water and wastewater projects in the entire state was created with this goal in mind by the legislators. In a November referendum, voters will vote on this measure known as Proposition 6.
Fowler stated that the fund will help to finance the repairs of leaks but it won’t fix the problem.
He said that while the amount was significant, it wasn’t enough to create a water infrastructure investment boom in Texas. The challenges with the old infrastructure in Texas are numerous.
For your home’s drainage and water systems to function properly, you need plumbing services. Plumbing systems may develop problems over time such as leaks, clogs or degrading pipes. These issues can affect water quality and utility. Plumbing services are available to solve a variety of plumbing issues. These services may include drain Imperial Restoration top-rated emergency plumbing in Toronto, pipe repair, installation of fixtures, water heater repairs, or fixture installations. You can make sure that the plumbing in your home or business is working properly by hiring a professional plumbing service. You are interested in the information about the services we offer, right? If so, here you can verify and learn more about the subject of services that we apply and offer to the client https://www.imperial-restoration.ca/. This will ensure clean water and efficient drainage as well as dependable supply. Well-maintained plumbing systems contribute to your overall home comfort and business functionality.
