Boiling water note: The water system in Odessa, Texas lost pressure after a rupture in a 24-inch water line

The faucets of Odessa’s water system’s 165,000 customers lost pressure or went completely dry after the 24-inch pipe ruptured late Monday afternoon, according to the city’s social media pages. Odessa Mayor Javier Joven declared a state of emergency and issued an until further notice boil-boil notice for the system’s 165,000 customers who still had water.

“A significant portion of the community remains without water at this time,” the city’s Facebook page said early Tuesday afternoon.

Shops, schools and government agencies remained closed on Tuesday due to a lack of water.

City officials said Tuesday afternoon that repairs are not expected to be completed until Tuesday evening, but water is not expected to flow again until almost midday Wednesday.

“Because we’ve never done this before (rebooting) an entire system like this, we’re making these predictions on good guesswork,” said public utility director Thomas Kerr.

Water tankers have been strategically placed around the city to respond to fires, Deputy City Manager Phillip Urrutia said.

“It’s an aging infrastructure that we’re seeing. It’s cast iron pipe and so these are usually more prone to rupture than other new technologies like PVC pipe that goes into the ground,” he said.

The Texas Department of Emergency Management said it is shipping truckloads of potable water while city crews expedite repairs to the main. The Texas Environmental Quality Commission has staff in Odessa on standby to test water quality, according to the agency.

The temperature at the Odessa Schlemeyer Field reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday afternoon.