Tonight WCID, the City will provide information about chlorine conversion, boil water notice
KILLEEN, Texas (Oct. 26, 2021; 11:30a.m. Update) – The City of Killeen is reminding all citizens that they’re invited to tonight’s weekly City Council meeting at 5p.m. at City Hall (101 N. College Street, Killeen).
The boil water notice (BWN) that has been in place since Oct. 19 will be discussed and the Bell County Water Control and Improvement District (WCID) is scheduled to provide updates on its chlorine conversion status. For those unable to attend the meeting, please watch our weekly livestream on our website at http://www.killeentexas.gov/281/Council-Live-Streaming.
Yesterday, WCID shifted its water chlorine conversion focus from the City of Killeen’s five elevated storage tanks (ESTs), to points further out in the distribution system. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been working with WCID, the City of Killeen and surrounding cities on implementing a temporary disinfectant conversion from chloramines (chlorine and ammonia) to free chlorine to maintain the system and water quality—a process they say will continue through Nov. 21. During this time, customers in all areas may experience taste and odor changes associated with temporary disinfectant conversion.
Please note, the City of Killeen’s boil water notice has never been on the same timeline as WCID’s chlorine conversion and our BWN is not expected to last as long as the chlorine conversion process.
City crews have been working non-stop in flushing the system, as well as taking samples and tests and will await guidance from TCEQ on when it is safe to lift the boil water notice. Yesterday crews were able to see the residuals coming in from WCID at all of our tank locations and they are going up to a reasonable rate.
If you missed yesterday’s (Oct. 25) video update from the City of Killeen’s Executive Director of Public Works, here it is for your review:
https://youtu.be/XvPAeSPdAvY
If you missed our video interview from Oct. 21, answering questions from the community, here it is for your review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Q2dYih9BE&t=133s
For general federal guidelines on how citizens should handle boil water advisories, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s site: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/drinking/drinking-water-advisories/boil-water-advisory.html
For questions regarding WCID, please contact Ricky Garrett, General Manager of the Bell County WCID #1. WCID provides wholesale water service to the cities of Belton, Copperas Cove, Killeen, Harker Heights, Nolanville and the Fort Hood Military Reservation.
The health and safety of our citizens is the City’s priority. We encourage residents to sign up for the City Alerts on our website, killeentexas.gov, to stay up to date on all news, notices and events.
