UPDATE: City of Round Rock completes water main repairs

July 14, 2023
10:40 am

UPDATE (Tuesday, July 18): Repairs on the water main near RM 1431 are finished, and City crews have been working Tuesday evening to refill the line with potable water so it can return to normal operations. All customers may return to their designated watering schedule starting Wednesday morning.

Round Rock is currently in Stage 1 of Drought Restrictions, which allows a maximum of two days of outdoor watering per week based on the last number of your address. This includes residents living in Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) that are wholesale customers of the City of Round Rock.

If your address ends in…	Allowed Watering Days under Stage 1 Drought Restrictions
4 or 8	Sunday and/or Thursday
0 or 3	Monday and/or Thursday
2, 6 or 7	Tuesday and/or Friday
1, 5 or 9	Wednesday and/or Saturday

Watering is allowed between midnight to 10 a.m. or 7 p.m. to midnight only.

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UPDATE (Monday, July 17): Repairs are progressing on schedule and the public is expected to be able to resume normal water usage starting the evening of Tuesday, July 18.

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ORIGINAL POST (Friday, July 14): The City of Round Rock is asking customers who reside west of IH-35 to voluntarily decrease their water use through Tuesday, with an emphasis on limiting outdoor watering, while crews repair a major water main break.

The break is located on a 36-inch water main located on the south side of RM 1431, approximately 0.5 miles west of IH-35. Due to the size and type of pipe impacted, specialized third party contractors arrived in Round Rock Thursday to begin isolating the break in anticipation of repairs. Customers located west of IH-35 are asked to conserve water now through Tuesday, July 18 based on the timeline for repairs. This includes the following Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) that purchase wholesale water from the City of Round Rock: Fern Bluff, Vista Oaks, Walsh Ranch and the Tonkawa Springs neighborhood.

As a result of the break and related repairs, the City of Round Rock will provide services to this area from a water source that is limited to 12 million gallons per day of capacity. Customers in this area are currently using an average of 10 to 11 million gallons per day, and over half of this usage is estimated to be from outdoor watering.

“Our diverse array of water sources is what is allowing us to continue to provide services to residents throughout this major repair, without having to issue a boil water notice or other drastic measures,” said Michael Thane, Director of Utilities and Environmental Services. “With the levels of outdoor watering we are seeing this summer, we need customers in this area to momentarily curb water usage where they can in the coming days to give us a little more breathing room. It’s incredibly important that we maintain pressure in our system throughout the repair process.”

The simplest way for residents in this area to help decrease overall usage is to forgo outdoor watering until repairs are completed, or switch to hand watering their lawns on their designated watering day.

More than 11,000 single family residences are included in the area.

City of Round Rock officials will provide any updates throughout the repair process at www.roundrocktexas.gov.

What water source is being used to serve impacted customers during repairs?

The City’s main source of drinking water is surface water from Lake Georgetown, which is provided through the Brazos River Authority (BRA) and pumped from Lake Georgetown to the City’s water treatment plant.

In mid-2012, the City of Round Rock, with the cities of Leander and Cedar Park, completed infrastructure to pull water from Lake Travis through a partnership called the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority (BCRUA). Round Rock typically uses 2 MGD from this source to supplement overall water distribution. The raw water is treated at the regional group’s water treatment plant located in Cedar Park. This is the water source that will be used while repairs are being made.

The City has worked to diversify and build its water sources for the future to maintain a high level of water security. Having the flexibility to pull water directly from the BCRUA is what is allowing Round Rock to avoid shutting off water or issuing a boil water notice to customers at this time.

What is the timeline for repairs?

Third party contractors were working to isolate the repair on Friday, July 14. Another third party contractor will begin repairs Saturday, July 15, with an expected completion on Tuesday, July 19. At that time, the City of Round Rock will return to providing this area with water through the City’s main treatment plant.