NUECES COUNTY, TX — Calallen resident Suzanne Gallagher has switched to bottled water for drinking, cooking, and feeding her pets after learning about an arsenic violation affecting her water supply.
"When I want to drink water, I'm just using this water from my pitcher," Gallagher said, holding up a water jug.
Gallagher is a customer of River Acres Water Supply, known as RAWS, which gets its water from Nueces County Water Control and Improvement District 3 through an interconnect transmission line. When District 3 received an arsenic violation, RAWS also had to notify its customers.
"I've been drinking the tap water for a long time, and I thought maybe it wasn't tasting quite as good, but when I switched to the bottled water, it was a big difference, so it does have a taste," Gallagher said.
RAWS Office Manager Kylee Rodriguez said the company mailed letters, posted notices on a bulletin board outside their office, and shared information on their website to notify customers about the violation.
However, Gallagher said she never received the letter and worries other customers may not be aware of the situation.
"My concern is that a lot of people that get their water from RAWS do not know this, do not understand that they're drinking the same water," Gallagher said.
When asked about sending additional information to customers, Rodriguez said RAWS is following all standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
"Obviously, we don't like to be in these situations; we don't like to scare customers," Rodriguez said. "We don't like for them to feel like their drinking water is unsafe, but we do have regulations and standards that we have to follow. Obviously, we're a public water system, and we do what TCEQ tells us."
Gallagher emphasized the importance of community awareness, especially for residents who cannot afford bottled water or are more vulnerable.
"So that people can decide what they want to do about it... Do a little research and decide what amount of risk they're comfortable with," Gallagher said.
The TCEQ has a drinking water viewer that provides information to the public about water quality.
River Acres Water Supply said there is currently no health concern, and if there was one, customers would be notified more quickly than just through a letter in the mail.
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