CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Every city experiences low water pressure from time to time, and the city of Kingsville is no exception.
Kingsville has water pressure issues like any other city. It is required to have 35 pounds per square inch (PSI). PSI is the force at which water enters someone's home through the water main.
Kingsville City Manager Mark McLaughlin said the city's water pressure is around 50-60 PSI, which is better than the requirement. Drinking water, faucets and sprinkler systems are all affected by low water pressure.
However, the North side of the city has more problem areas than others. Residents have noticed a difference in their water in May.
"The reason why I noticed it about a week ago was because I was trying to water the yard. There was a little drip, then it would go blank. We would only do a little bit, and it took us about two and a half hours just to put water on our plants," Carol Garza said.
Water lines get old, break, and leak. The upcoming summer heat will not make the challenge any easier.
"Drought can be really bad for our water system because it gets the big cracks to open up and that’s the contraction on the ground. That impacts the water lines," McLaughlin said.
The city has construction crews that check for water leaks on a daily basis and work as quickly as possible to repair broken lines. They will soon have 12,000 new water meters by Christmas that should help them stay on top of the issue before it becomes a bigger concern.
"It can hear the leak and it alarms our water departments. Many times they’ll know before the customer even knows that there’s a leak bubbling up in their yard. We’ll know it before they do," McLaughlin said.
Kingsville will be conducting a water study of all its water and sewer lines to address the most vulnerable areas that are affected by old pipes. However, to replace pipes, some streets have to be dug up. This does not fit in the city budget, so if city commissioners go that route, it would be a bond issue.
McLaughlin recommended that residents to stay in contact with the city through Facebook or their website to alert them of any water pressure issues they might face.
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