EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso Water President and CEO John Balliew addressed El Paso City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 20 to provide updates on the Northeast El Paso water main break that left thousands of El Paso residents with little to no water for multiple days last week.

He said all repairs have been completed.

“We have to do many things. For example, the piece of pipe that failed, we’re doing the analysis of it right now. We’re doing an analysis of how we can move water better around in the system and various lessons learned,” Balliew said.

City Rep. Cynthia Boyar Trejo, who represents Northeast El Paso, questioned Balliew about El Paso Water’s preparedness and response to the emergency.

“Also a serious concern was the delayed emergency notification as residents did not receive alerts on their phones explaining what was occurring until Monday evening. Seniors and individuals with limited mobility were unable to travel to distribution sites to obtain water, and when they contacted El Paso Water for assistance, they were unable to reach customer service representatives because calls went unanswered,” Trejo said.

The break happened at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10 near the intersection of Girl Scout Way and Transmountain, near Skyline Park, in Northeast El Paso.

Christine Murphy, a Northeast El Paso resident impacted during the main break, said she and her husband noticed they had low water pressure early Sunday morning, but did not receive a notification from El Paso Water until about 12 hours later.

“Well the communication was very bad and we found out because obviously we went to the bathroom and it was trickling, the water was trickling, and of course it took a couple of times to flush. Then, you know, of course, we checked online to see if there was anything. Nothing. And then finally, at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, we got notification, the alert, which should have been the first thing,” Murphy said.

“We were very disappointed. I mean, that should have been an emergency alert type of thing so that residents were not panicking,” Murphy added.

Trejo also questioned the utility’s empathy toward the thousands of impacted customers as the Public Service Board, which governs EPW, still moved forward with voting to approve the utility’s rate increase while the main break was still on-going.

She also asked about the Arellano family of 10, who were displaced from their home as a result of the main break. Balliew responded that they are currently housing the family as they work to stabilize the home.

He said they’ve had a structural engineer evaluate the home to determine if it’s salvageable. If it can not be saved, they are making arrangements to buy the home to help the family, he said.

Trejo said she will be proposing changes at the next City Council meeting that will call for more transparency from the utility on how they are maintaining their infrastructure, as well as their preparedness for emergencies.

“We must ensure accountability and transparency and provide clear information on how critical infrastructure is maintained and how emergencies are handled. This includes regular public briefings to provide updates on infrastructure maintenance process, emergency preparedness and response system redundancies,” Trejo said. “When an emergency of this magnitude hits our community, it’s crucial that a community communication plan is in place and one that includes timely notification.”

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