CRYSTAL CITY, Texas – The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says it supports an earlier decision by the Crystal City to lift a boil water notice after analyzing new water sample results.
TCEQ sent out a statement Wednesday afternoon reading "water pressure and chlorine residual levels representative of the distribution system meet drinking water standards, which prevent harmful bacteria and other microbes. Other constituents such as lead, copper, nitrate and nitrite, and volatile organics were also at acceptable levels for protection of public health."
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The agency said it will receive more results "over the next several weeks."
Some Crystal City residents began reporting murky water running from their faucets on Wednesday evening, Feb. 17. The city said it was sediment from the water tank that had been washed into distribution lines when the tank was drained that night.
TCEQ continues to investigate, but for now it's going with the city's account that sediment from the water tank was the cause of the smell and appearance of the murky water. The agency blamed manganese, specifically.
"Manganese and iron can cause taste, odor, black water and/or a reddish brown water color and is aesthetic in nature. Neither of these constituents present potential health hazards and EPA has not set federal drinking water standards for these constituents," the statement read.
The TCEQ first responded to the city's water situation on Thursday Feb. 18 and found the water at five sites to be clear and odorless. The city had already begun emptying the sediment from the system the night before by opening fire hydrants, Crystal City Water/Wastewater Superintendent Carlos Ramirez said.
On Friday night, Feb. 19, the state advised residents to boil water and avoid any discolored water. TCEQ said the the decision was out of "an abundance of caution."
Ramirez told KSAT he took bacteriological samples to get tested Friday. After the results came back, Ramirez said the city told residents on Sunday they didn't need to boil water anymore.
The state, however, continued to advise residents to take precautions this week.
On Monday, TCEQ took "a large number of water samples from numerous locations around the city" and hand delivered them to the a state lab in Austin.
TCEQ said it "will continue to work with the county and city over the next few weeks and months to ensure that the system continues to operate within state and federal drinking water standards."
While the state has been conducting its testing, the Defenders have launched their own. On Tuesday, we delivered a sample of the murky water that came out of a faucet Wednesday night to the San Antonio Testing Laboratory to be tested for 28 metals, mercury and volatile organic compounds.
TCEQ is asking residents to contact the city at 830-374-3477 ext. 7202 or the TCEQ regional office in Laredo at 956-791-6611 if they have unusually discolored or smelly water.