On Monday afternoon, April 2, at about 4pm, an 8-inch water main transmission line broke on Elm Street, just north of Fulcher Street. The line was older and brittle, reported Nathan Cantrell, director of public works for the City of Blanco. When city employees were installing a tap in the line, it split.

Fire hydrants were opened, causing water pressure to drop to nothing for many homes and businesses in the city, to allow city employees to get to the line and fix the break.

The employees wrapped up at about 11pm, Cantrell said. The department spent Tuesday flushing out dead-end lines around town to get all the air out of the system.

As for any precautions citizens need to take, Cantrell noted that it’s all good. After talking to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), they verified that the city did not violate any rules. The water system’s fluoride residual wasn’t lost, and there’s no problem with TCEQ sampling.

“There’s no need to boil water,” Cantrell said.

Cantrell took 45 to 50 calls from citizens about the loss of water pressure. “They were very understanding,” he said. Cantrell noted that Mayor Chuck Homan was kept up to date and city council member Al Turner visited the site of the break.