Water Wise Graphic

WATER EMERGENCY ALERT: YOUR HELP IS NEEDED: 06.29.23

/in ,
Note: This entry was last modified on June 29, 2023: 12:47 pm and may be out of date.

Yesterday, Wednesday, June 29, water demand exceeded 5.1 million gallons, which is .6 million over the daily capacity of 4.5 million. This is a dangerous level of usage, regardless of an equipment failure or not. If demand exceeds the City’s current ability to pump water, we could enter a critical situation of losing system pressure, which could trigger a boil notice that we all want to avoid.

Please help our community by taking time now to ensure that your irrigation system is programmed to water ONLY on your scheduled day (see below).

During enforcement checks over the past few days, it is apparent that some homes throughout the community have not made this adjustment. (see schedule below) An in-depth FAQ will be published today to help you further, and keep you up to date on the pump’s repair status.

When you can irrigate

LAST NUMBER OF HOUSE ADDRESS DAY OF WEEK WATERING IS ALLOWED:

For example, if your house number is 1265 your designated day is Wednesday.

1 or 2 MONDAY
3 or 4 TUESDAY
5 or 6 WEDNESDAY
7 or 8 THURSDAY
9 or 0 FRIDAY

WHAT WE KNOW & BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The failed pump was removed from the City of Heath on Monday and has been with the contractor. It takes a few days to completely disassemble the equipment for a comprehensive analysis. The contractor has informed the City that we will have a diagnosis and answer regarding repair options by tonight, Thursday, June 29th. Expect information on this tomorrow morning. Best case scenario is that it will be repaired and re-installed in two to three weeks. The need to replace the pump would require a longer time frame. Again, the city is pushing the demand capacity regardless of this equipment failure…our daily allotment from the City of Rockwall is 6.0 million gallons.

The City has been planning and preparing for long term solutions to increase the water system delivery capacity. This is not a quick fix, and it is a costly infrastructure investment, but citizens need and deserve this reliability. City leaders and staff understand that and are working hard on this issue.

The City of Heath 2018 Comprehensive Plan embraces low density with a residential development mandate of only one home per acre average. Any new commercial development is also restrictive. Any densely built home developments in the community that are continuing to develop were approved well before 2018. The 2018 plan reflects a deep understanding that water is a precious resource that will only become more limited in the years to come due to weather patterns, growth throughout the state, and limited water rights in Texas. Residential development in surrounding cities is controlled by those cities, not the City of Heath.