August 11, 2023

Boil Water Notice Issued (August 11, 2023)

August 11, 2023 To: Prairie Grove Utilities Customers (Public Water System ID # 0030027) Subject: BOIL WATER NOTIFICATION Due to low water pressures in the water distribution system, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required the Prairie Grove Utilities public water system (PWS ID Number 0030027) to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc.). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions. To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes. When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, Prairie Grove Utilities officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking or human consumption purposes. Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, Prairie Grove Utilities will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice. Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail. If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Mr. Chris Key, P.E., Executive Manager, Utilities, Angelina & Neches River Authority at (936) 632-7795 or (800) 282-5634. If […]
June 21, 2023

Boil Water Notice Rescinded (June 21, 2022)

On June 17, 2023, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) required the Prairie Grove Utilities public water system (PWS ID Number 0030027) to issue a Boil Water Notice to inform customers, individuals, or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. Prairie Grove Utilities has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by Prairie Grove Utilities used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of June 21, 2023. If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Mr. Chris Key, P.E., Executive Manager, Utilities, Angelina & Neches River Authority at (936) 632-7795 or (800) 282-5634. If you wish to contact TCEQ, you may call (512) 239-4691.
June 17, 2023

Boil Water Notice Issued (June 17, 2023)

June 17, 2023 To: Prairie Grove Utilities Customers (Public Water System ID # 0030027) Subject: BOIL WATER NOTIFICATION Due to low water pressures in the water distribution system, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required the Prairie Grove Utilities public water system (PWS ID Number 0030027) to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc.). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions. To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes. When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, Prairie Grove Utilities officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking or human consumption purposes. Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, Prairie Grove Utilities will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice. Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail. If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Mr. Chris Key, P.E., Executive Manager, Utilities, Angelina & Neches River Authority at (936) 632-7795 or (800) 282-5634. If […]
June 17, 2023

Prairie Grove June Update #1

Update Saturday 12pm: Since our last post, we’ve been carefully monitoring the tank levels, and unfortunately, they’re sticking very close to the worst case forecast that we provided yesterday afternoon. If current demand levels continue, the tanks will be below 7 ft at 11pm tonight. (Tanks are full at 17 ft, and are at 11 ft at the time of this message) Safety’s built into the tank fill controls shut the system down once it gets too low. Unless something drastic changes between now and then, our plan is to shut the system down at 9pm to allow it to recover overnight and have it back on at 7 am tomorrow morning for showers and the like. We will likely need to either shut it down again midday Sunday or overnight between Sunday and Monday, but we will make that determination after we see the demand Sunday morning. The more we can conserve today, the better off we’re going to be. If any of your friends or neighbors are not on social media seeing these messages, please let them know whats going on, and everyone please, please discontinue any outdoor water use. We’ll post an update this evening or as needed. As always, we appreciate your understanding, patience, and help with these conservation measures.
June 16, 2023

Stage 5 Drought Contingency Implementation Notice Reminder for Prairie Grove Utilities

Good afternoon Prairie Grove: It’s officially summer. It’s hot and it’s dry, and lots of folks are spending time outside using water.  Unfortunately, just like last summer, that means we’re exceeding the capacity of the system to supply water. Over the past week, the storage tanks at the Sherwood Forest well have been starting each day about a half foot lower than the day before – and the problem is accelerating. As we’ve said before, even without this increased usage, the well is unable to supply enough water for needs during the day, but it is generally able to recover overnight when usage is low. Unfortunately, as daily demand increases, it has outstripped the ability of the well to fully replenish the tank levels overnight. Unless we all begin immediately practicing the protocol in the Stage 5 Drought Contingency Plan that was implemented in the Summer of 2022 (which has remained active), then we will almost certainly have a system shutdown before the weekend is over. We’ve provided a graph of the Ground Storage Tank levels over the past two weeks (blue line).  Based on this pattern and expected demand, we’ve projected (orange line) that levels will likely bottom out very quickly over the weekend.  Once the system drops below eight feet (red line), we’ve reached the critical point and we must shut down the system to allow it to fully recover. We have partially closed the outgoing valves from the plant to approximately 15% of normal levels to attempt to slow the demand, but that will not be enough. It will take your help as well. Some things we MUST all begin doing immediately to prevent the system going into emergency operations mode, which will include temporary shutdowns of the system as we have seen over the past few […]
June 1, 2023

Prairie Grove Utilities Rate Increase Notice

May 30, 2023 The Angelina & Neches River Authority (ANRA) has been the official owner of the Prairie Grove water system since July of 2022. Since ANRA’s initial involvement in September of 2020, crews have made numerous repairs and fixed dozens of water leaks. ANRA has spent a significant amount of time studying and learning the water system as we planned for upgrades that will ultimately create a new water system that meets all state and federal regulatory requirements. All during this process, ANRA has been open and transparent about the ongoing deficiencies and severely degraded condition of the current system as well as what has to happen to bring the water system into compliance. In order to accomplish this, ANRA has to replace the two water treatment plants and 85% of the distribution system. ANRA has worked very hard to secure grants that will enable customers to avoid having to pay for the majority of the costs of construction for the new water system. We have successfully secured a 70% grant for the project Future Improvements In January of this year, ANRA submitted the final components of the application for funding to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). The final application amount was $7.7 million. The proposed project will contain the following elements: Construction of a new 8” water supply line and master meter from the City of Diboll; Construction of a new booster station capable of serving 500 residential water customers; Replacement of 85% of the existing distribution system; Creation of a looped distribution system by constructing water lines that connect from FM 1818 and Buttermilk Rd, down to the intersection CC Rd, and back to FM 1818; Installation of fire hydrants at key locations. It is important to note that the project has not yet been fully […]
April 26, 2023

Kickapoo Creek Public Stakeholder Meeting – May 2, 2023 

Save the Date!  Kickapoo Creek Public Stakeholder Meeting – May 2, 2023  In 2000, Kickapoo Creek in Henderson County, was identified for having bacteria concentrations that exceed the state water quality standards, therefore, a watershed protection plan is being developed to address causes and sources of pollution in the Kickapoo Creek watershed and to develop a stakeholder-driven watershed protection plan that will help improve the health of the water in Kickapoo Creek.  TIAER will host a public stakeholder meeting May 2, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. at the City of Edom Community Center, located at 150 VZCR 4800, in Edom, Texas.  Draft versions of chapters 7-10 of the Kickapoo Creek Watershed Protection Plan will be presented and discussed at this meeting. To review the WPP, please visit the project website: https://www.tarleton.edu/tiaer/kickapoo-creek-wpp/ Since decisions made about Kickapoo Creek in Henderson County will affect landowners, citizens, industries, and municipalities, your participation is fundamental to the success of this project and the water quality of our water.  Questions may be directed to ltaylor@tarleton.edu
April 6, 2023

Scheduled Maintenance for Holmwood Utilities Customers

Attn:  Holmwood Water Customers   Holmwood Utilities recently purchased an emergency generator for the Holmwood Water Treatment Plant. Contractors will be performing a scheduled work activity on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, to finalize the necessary electrical connections for the generator installation.   All work should be completed without any interruption to water service; however, there may be a brief period where water pressures could be lower than normal. If this occurs, operations crews will be working diligently to ensure water service returns to normal as quickly as possible.   We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at (936) 632-7795.