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According to the calendar, Monday, March 20 was the first day of spring. But for Victoria staff, a different kind of spring came one day later due to a series of water leaks around town.

Water supply operations for Victoria changed last week, as work crews performed scheduled maintenance on the elevated water tank on Mecklenburg Avenue. This required it to be drained and isolated from the water system.

Normally, water system pressure is provided by the height and amount of water in the elevated tank but with that tank closed and isolated from the water system, continuous pumping was required to maintain system pressure.

These pumps are located at the water filtration plant and at the ground storage tank in town. Victoria’s aging water infrastructure is accustomed to a static pressure of 58 PSI from the elevated tank but pumping caused increases in the pressure as well as changes in how the water flowed through the system.

LEADING TO A PROBLEM

The increase in pressure caused the weak points in the piping to be stressed to the point they broke, leading to the multiple leaks last week.

To repair some of these leaks, the crews had to open several fire hydrants to reduce the pressure on the line to enable repairs to be made.

That’s why residents started seeing discolored water. The increase in water flow caused turbulence in the water mains, creating the discoloration.

“The patience, consideration, and understanding of our citizens (has been) greatly appreciated during this past week,” town officials said in a statement. “The elevated water tank is back in service and providing water to the system and the system has stabilized.”

Town officials added that crews have a few remaining leaks to repair before everything is finished. If anyone in Victoria is experiencing discolored water, they’re asked to please use outside faucets to flush the system. And town officials added that they plan to upgrade the infrastructure, but that won’t happen immediately.

“The Town of Victoria is striving towards upgrading of water and sewer infrastructure throughout town, but this will take time,” Victoria officials said in a statement. “Again, the town is very appreciative of the patience and understanding of our citizens over the past several days.”