Small Rockwall County town gets water cut off
By J.D. Miles
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MCLENDON-CHISOLM, Texas (KTVT) — Residents in a Rockwall County town are facing a shortage of something we need more than ever during this heatwave.
Water service was completely cut off today to some people who live in the small town of McLendon-Chisholm, about eight miles south of Rockwall.
What happened there could be a troubling sign of something we could see in other parts of North Texas where the water supply can’t keep up with the growing population.
Only one day after getting this surprise notice to stop all outdoor watering in the town of McLendon-Chisholm, Brian Caldronia tried to take a shower and found he didn’t have any running water at all.
“And so before we even had an opportunity to implement that restriction, the very next day, yesterday, they came out with another notice that said no watering at all,” Caldrona said. “And then today, the 13th on Wednesday, there’s no water, they cut it off to a large portion of our town.”
RCH Water Supply provides service to the town of nearly 5000 and sent a message to customers saying the outage “was the result of extremely high outside sprinkler watering and a limited supply of water available to RCH from our purchased source.”
The utility board’s office was closed when CBS 11 tried to get an interview.
But residents like Caldronia have trouble understanding why homeowners didn’t get more than a day’s warning to reduce usage before the water was completely cut off.
“And we can’t say that, you know if they had given us that opportunity, back then three weeks ago that this wouldn’t have happened,” Caldrona said. “But we didn’t have that opportunity.”
By late afternoon, Caldronia was getting low pressure water through his faucets.
He said it’s bad enough that the landscaping around homes in this neighborhood may not survive.
But the real concern he has is whether nearby fire hydrants will work if there’s a fire, and if the tap water is safe to drink since a boil order remains still in effect.
“I question whether we’re adequately protected from a fire,” Caldrona said. “It’s frustrating. You gotta go to the grocery store and try to find bottled water and I was just at the local grocery store down the street and they’re pretty much out of water.”
Residents were notified this evening by the water supply utility that the town’s water was filled and service to everyone should be restored.
But strict outdoor water rationing will continue.
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