Lessons from Winter Storm Uri

Lessons from Uri

How texas rural water systems responded to this winter's catastrophe.

In February, record-setting Winter Storm Uri brought snow, ice and piercing-cold temperatures to Texas, immobilizing the state’s power grid and triggering intermittent and sustained outages statewide. This unprecedented event hit water utilities hard, causing system instability or failure for many statewide. According to news reports, there were more than 4.5 million Texans who reported power outages across the state and more than 15 million were issued boil water notices at the peak of the storm. By the time the storm had ended, nearly 2,000 public water systems across Texas reported some level of disrupted operations.

As temperatures plummeted on Sunday, February 14, water utility personnel began working around the clock for what would be a week of crisis after crisis compounded by freezing temperatures, lack of power, unsafe road conditions, hindered communication, restricted access to supplies, exhausted personnel, and strained water supply.

In an attempt to conserve energy, power companies statewide began putting customers on rolling blackouts, including water and wastewater utilities. Some systems were put on rolling blackouts while others lost power all together. Unfortunately, while most systems had some form of backup power supply on hand, some generators were not able to start in the freezing temperatures and others had mechanical issues. In some instances, portable generators worked, but the hazardous conditions made it dangerous and difficult to transport them to the locations that needed them. Before the sun rose on Monday, February 15, many systems’ backup power generators were already failing as the Texas power grid faced its worst crisis in decades. Even as workers battled to reset generators and keep the electricity on at their critical locations, other problems began to arise.

Because of the increased demand and disrupted supply chain, fuel for the generators quickly became scarce.

“A 250KW generator requires 200 gallons of diesel a day, larger generators even more. During this crisis, diesel supply became a serious issue,” said Dave McMurry, General Manager of Aqua WSC.

Even at systems with reserves on hand, fueling was becoming an issue when it became clear that the storm

conditions were not letting up. In addition to depleting reserves, system were faced with the challenge of keeping their diesel fuel from gelling up in subfreezing temperatures. Without the necessary anti-gel on hand, diesel supplies would be rendered useless.

The freezing weather brought other issues — water treatment chemicals froze, gauges broke, cell towers and phone lines went down, and large supply lines from water sources began to freeze for the first time ever. It was a domino effect that kept system personnel working extended shifts, sleeping at their stations, and coming up with creative solutions to each problem that arose.

“My field manager used his southern ingenuity to make it work. He built onsite heat lamps from light bulbs and pieces of lamps from the office, then put a box around them to keep them out of the weather,” said Shirley Thompson, General Manager of College Mound SUD. “Thinking outside of the box is so critical in a situation like this.”

Historic high demand was another significant factor that taxed many water systems. Between dripping faucets, line breaks, and other use, most systems were distributing more water than their highest summer demand. Those systems who purchase their water from wholesale providers were getting turned off, told they had exceeded their allotted amounts. Systems placed on rolling blackouts were unable to run their pumps long enough to push enough water into their tanks or lines to satisfy demand. When the systems could not keep up with demand, the distribution system would lose pressure, causing contamination risks and system outages.

At many water utilities, rolling blackouts were putting strain on their other systems as well, including their electronic control systems. With power only coming on between 10-20 minutes at a time, there wasn’t enough time to complete system checks during those windows. Additionally, the starting and stopping of pumps can be highly damaging to the equipment and the water lines they feed.

While systems struggled to restore service or keep their systems running, there was also the challenge of communicating with their communities, including information about outages, conservation tips, and boil water notices. Many turned to their websites and social media outlets to get information out to their customers fast. Others relied on their relationships with nearby utilities and cities to use emergency alert systems to push texts, calls and emails to subscribers.

Leadership in the water industry see the crisis as coming down to an energy failure which caused the cascading problems at the water systems. Systems with relationships and direct communication with their electrical providers fared better than those who did not. In many instances, water utility managers cited that electric providers were hard to coordinate with, did not know where their key facilities were, or said they did not have any control over who they turned off.

“If the winter storms taught us anything, it’s that there needs to be better communication between the power providers and the water utilities, which should be listed as critical infrastructure to support,” said Lara Zent, Executive Director and General Counsel of Texas Rural Water Association.

Most of the state had their electricity restored by Friday, February 19, but water problems lingered for days after while systems continued to fight hard for recovery. With power restored, staff continued to work overtime to get water treated, tanks filled, and service restored. System personnel drove miles and miles of line looking for breaks and continued to spot-check in the week following.

Following the disastrous emergency event, systems are looking inward and evaluating what changes they can make to ensure they are prepared for future extreme winter conditions. In addition to having better communication with their power providers, intense winterization procedures, stockpiling fuel, purchasing non-cellular communication devices, and relocating critical system components indoors are just a few resiliency measures being discussed at water systems across the state.

Hopefully, a storm like Uri truly is a “once in a generation” event, as it has been described in the news. However, with a focus on resiliency and emergency preparedness, when it does happen again, our Texas water systems will be ready.

In an attempt to conserve energy, power companies statewide began putting customers on rolling blackouts, including water and wastewater utilities.