Questions About the Water Supply

We’ve been getting lots of questions about the water supply.  Thank you, and please keep them coming—we’re doing the very best we can to disseminate timely and accurate information, and it’s helpful to hear from you what you’re experiencing at your location and what questions you have.  In this update I’ll attempt to answer some of them.

Boil Water Notice Issued as a Precaution

Things can change very quickly in the midst of a crisis.  After I posted what I thought would be my last update for the night, we’ve had a major new development.  Residents are being advised through our PrepareBellaire emergency alert system to boil water until further notice.  Please be assured no contaminants or unsafe conditions have actually been detected, but you are being asked to boil your water before use out of an abundance of caution.

Here’s what happened:  Early this evening one of our water wells went down due to the extremely cold temperatures we’re experiencing, and another is currently operating at a reduced capacity.  We rely on surface water from the City of Houston for half of our water supply, but at the moment we’re not receiving any, for the same reason.  The combined effect has been a sudden drop in system water pressures below recommended levels, and low enough to trigger a boil water notice.

Again, this being done as a precaution per TCEQ requirements, and we’ll let you know just as soon as the situation is resolved.  You should boil city water and then allow it to cool before using it, or use bottled water as an alternative.  Please help us spread the word to your friends and neighbors who may not be receiving our messages, and thank you for bearing with us through this incredibly challenging and frustrating extreme weather event.

Quick Update

Not a whole lot has changed since my last post early this morning, but here’s a quick update before we all settle in for another cold night.

Municipal Water Supply

Bellaire water is safe to drink, although you’re likely not getting much of it right now as residential connections remain mostly frozen.  (To be clear, as I’m hearing there may be some confusion about this, it’s the supply pipe running from the street to your house; the water mains are functioning properly with normal pressure.)  Public Works is monitoring the system and addressing any other issues as they arise.  What water you do use, please use sparingly.

Power Outages

CenterPoint advises that they have identified and are performing some equipment repairs that will allow them to begin restoring power to more customers.  However, they are also concerned about the next icy weather system coming in overnight and the possibility it could cause further outages.  Due to the ongoing statewide power generation shortfall, CenterPoint is required to follow ERCOT’s directive to reduce the load by continuing to implement controlled outages.

City Services Suspended

As you’ve probably guessed by now, city services will remain suspended tomorrow (Wednesday).  Please hold your trash and recyclables until your next regularly scheduled pickup day.  If the situation improves such that we can resume city services on Thursday, we will let you know as soon as possible.

First It Was Power, Now Water Too

Adding insult to injury, most of us are now without water, or have very low water pressure, on top of the prolonged power outages.  Once again this is a regional problem not limited to Bellaire, as the City of Houston and other area jurisdictions are reporting similar issues with their water systems.  Residents are asked to be patient and to conserve water as much as possible.  Bellaire’s municipal water supply remains safe to drink.

Bellaire water mains are functioning properly and water pressures within the mains are normal.  The reason homeowners are experiencing limited supply is that the smaller diameter pipes running from the mains to individual homes have frozen over.  Bellaire Public Works crews are working nonstop and doing all they can to ensure that the water will flow again once the residential connections have thawed.

As for power, we’ve maintained direct communications with CenterPoint but unfortunately don’t have much new information to share.  As of this morning, more than 4 million Texas households are without power, 1.3 million here in the Houston area.  CenterPoint’s online outage tracker, which crashed yesterday, appears to be working again but only tells us what we already know.  A few Bellaire residents have reported their power was restored last night, so that does give us some measure of hope.  We’ll of course keep you posted as new information becomes available.

Please continue to check in on your neighbors and stay safe.  We’re all in this together.

Residents Urged to Shelter in Place

As those without power are painfully aware (myself and my family included), the situation has only gotten worse today.  What we were originally told would be rolling blackouts lasting maybe 30 to 45 minutes, are now prolonged outages that could continue through the night.  CenterPoint had earlier expressed some optimism that many customers would see their power restored sometime today, but that’s now looking increasingly unlikely, especially as a further drop in temperatures will only drive electricity demand even higher.

We’re obviously not alone here in Bellaire; millions of homes across the Greater Houston area (and indeed across the state) are without power.  These extremely cold temperatures for our region have at once caused both record demand, and severely limited supply as generating units have shut down.  Some one-third of Texas’ electrical capacity has reportedly been knocked offline, whether from natural gas supply disruptions or frozen wind turbines.

As the situation has worsened, it seems CenterPoint has been forced to give up on its intended rolling blackouts, which is why so many of us have been without power all day and might not get it back tonight.  There just isn’t enough available capacity statewide.  It’s not that they’re not trying, but we shouldn’t get our hopes up.

That being the case, emergency management officials are recommending people shelter in place and conserve as much heat as possible.  You are at far greater risk attempting to travel elsewhere, especially as the snow and ice that melted somewhat in today’s sunshine is only going to refreeze as temperatures drop again.  Plus, anywhere you might try to go could also lose power as well.  Instead, you are strongly urged to stay home, and to help your neighbors if you can.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like those of us without power are in for a rough night with no heat against the near-record cold.  Bundle up and do what you can to stay warm, and know you’re not alone.  Above all else be safe.  For non-emergency assistance contact the Bellaire EOC at (713) 668-0487, or for life-threatening emergencies call 911.

Stay Safe, Stay Warm and Stay Off the Roads

This severe winter weather system is living up to expectations.  The kids (and many adults) were delighted to wake up to a Bellaire blanketed in snow, but our winter wonderland has come with some real headaches, too.  So far, the primary impact has been widespread power outages in several areas throughout the City, as the constrained supply and delivery infrastructure struggles to keep up with tremendous demand.  Authorities have asked us all to do our part by conserving electricity as much as possible.

Some things to know, now and over the next few days:

The Importance of Community in Tough Times

In presenting my 2021 State of the City Address Monday night, it was my privilege to share with you some of the highlights of our activities and accomplishments in responding to the many challenges we’ve faced over the past year.  With all that’s going on across our nation, and the world, we’re reminded how fortunate we are to live in Bellaire.  Times are tough, but the City has been there for us every step of the way, doing what it takes to maintain the essential services on which we all rely and which have given us some measure of stability even as we’re surrounded by chaos.

Something I submit we can all take from the past year is a renewed appreciation and gratitude for our many blessings, and for each other, and a sharpened focus on what really matters.  Like maintaining our sense of community as #OneBellaire, especially when times are tough.  We have much to be thankful for, all things considered, and we’ll come through just fine.

I hope you’ll take a moment to catch up on the State of our City.  I invite you to view the playback at your convenience, and download the accompanying State of the City Report.

We Are #OneBellaire

Given the political climate across our country in recent years, it’s no surprise we too have become increasingly polarized here in Bellaire.  The sidewalks charter election in November, which was never really about sidewalks, only underscored the point.  Down-ballot of the presidential election, we achieved a nearly 84% turnout, with 2,000+ ballots more than were cast in our last three City Council elections—combined.  And our voters split pretty much right down the middle.

But even more than the incredibly close outcome, it was the conduct of the election that laid bare the depths of our division.  It got intensely personal, heated and sometimes downright nasty.  People said stuff online to and about their neighbors they’d (hopefully) never say to their faces.  And this has been going on for some time now.  Sadly, we’ve been allowing our political disagreements to tear at the fibers of our social fabric.

Our beloved hometown's turning against itself is for me a call to action.  We have so much to be proud of, and thankful for, and I know Bellaire can do better.  I ask you to join me, in resolving this New Year, to begin the process of healing our divided community.

Serving You Differently This Most Unusual Year

We’ve had our share of challenges, typically in the form of hurricanes and other severe weather events, but the pandemic is quite unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before.  Still, we’re approaching this new challenge just the same, as a community, and together we’re getting through it.  What has defined 2020 hasn’t defined us.

The entire city organization really stepped up this year, finding different and creative ways to maintain the services we sometimes take for granted, but on which we’ve come to rely even more.  As neighbors we’ve been doing our part to help control the spread of the virus, while supporting one another, including our local businesses, in ways big and small.  These are very trying times indeed, but Bellaire is going to be just fine.

Celebrating the Holidays, 2020 Style

The holiday spirit is alive and well in Bellaire, but our celebrations will be quite a bit different this year.  The City’s special events team, along with our community partners, have been working hard to continue our annual traditions, albeit modified, and invite you to join in the festivities.  See below for some great holiday happenings around town.  From our family to yours, we wish each of you a happy, healthy and blessed holiday season, and remind you to please be safe if you’re planning your own small gatherings.