Laredo lifts boil water notice after additional tests clear system<\/a><\/p>\nBackflow prevention devices are designed to stop water from irrigation systems, swimming pools and other private plumbing connections from flowing backward into public drinking water lines. When functioning properly, they protect both homeowners and the public water supply from contamination.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Trevino said the failed device allowed contaminated water to move back into the system, triggering a positive sample and a precautionary response from city officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that monitor doesn\u2019t work, water from the sprinkler system or the grass or the swimming pool might return back to the city water and contaminate it with bacteria,\u201d Trevino said.<\/p>\n
Utilities Director Tareq Al-Zabet said the city\u2019s monitoring system detected the issue during routine monthly testing. Once identified, crews isolated the affected service line, flushed and disinfected the area and disconnected the residence from the network.<\/p>\n
According to Al-Zabet, the contamination was contained within hours.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything north and south of that house was negative,\u201d Al-Zabet said. \u201cThere was no evidence whatsoever from the first hours that there was any broad contamination in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al-Zabet stressed the three-day duration of the notice was not due to delays in the city\u2019s response, but rather the time required to complete multiple rounds of bacteriological testing required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.<\/p>\n
City officials also pointed to more than $119 million in water system investments made since the citywide boil water notice in 2024 as a key reason the incident remained limited in scope. However,\u00a0Trevino added the city needs around $800 million worth of investments in all.<\/p>\n
Those improvements include new pipelines, upgrades to treatment facilities, pressure-control technology, expanded sampling capabilities and the separation of the city\u2019s Jefferson and Pico water systems.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Trevino said those upgrades allowed the city to limit the notice to customers served by the Jefferson plant rather than issuing a citywide advisory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safeguards we put into place in 2024 are working,\u201d Trevino said.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Richard Pe\u00f1a Raymond echoed that message, describing the incident as a localized problem that was quickly identified and contained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the match that started the fire,\u201d Raymond said while holding up the failed backflow device. \u201cThankfully, the match in this case got put out right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Raymond and city officials also emphasized that protecting the water system is a shared responsibility between government agencies, contractors, plumbers and property owners.<\/p>\n
Officials said thousands of backflow prevention devices exist throughout Laredo, particularly at homes with irrigation systems. Trevino said property owners are responsible for ensuring those devices are properly installed, permitted and maintained.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment can do a lot, but government can\u2019t do everything,\u201d Raymond said. \u201cYou got to do your part too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moving forward, Trevino said he plans to bring an item before City Council focused on public education, permitting requirements and compliance measures related to backflow prevention devices.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Officials also said they intend to continue discussions with state regulators about developing more targeted responses in future incidents when contamination can be proven to be isolated.<\/p>\n
For now, city leaders said the incident demonstrated both the importance of public vigilance and the benefits of recent infrastructure improvements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe detected early, contained quickly and verified rigorously,\u201d Al-Zabet said. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly how the system is supposed to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State Rep. Richard Raymond holds up the makeshift pieces responsible for a partial boil water notice on May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-673829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}