Water now flowing from Luling to Lockhart

By Kristen Meriwether, Editor LPR

Water is now flowing from the pump station in Luling to Lockhart water towers, according to an email from Mike Urrutia, Deputy Executive Director of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA). 

With water flowing to Lockhart’s towers, the system can begin to pressurize. The city will need to maintain at least 20 PSI of pressure to send the water off for testing at GBRA labs. The water will have to, at a minimum, pass a 24-hour test to get the city off boil notice. But the filling of the tanks could get water to more taps—assuming the system doesn’t have leaks and can hold pressure. 

Water pressure has increased throughout the city Friday, an indication the system is, at least for now, stable.

In a Facebook post Friday afternoon Mayor Lew White seemed optimistic saying, “There should be an update tonight or in the morning on our water situation. It’s looking a lot better!”

The City of Luling experienced many water leaks throughout the city, causing significant loss in all three of their water towers, according to a City of Luling Facebook post on the morning of Feb. 18. The post said they turned off all main valves in the city to try and isolate the problem. 

GBRA began refilling the tanks in Luling Thursday morning, but the line to Lockhart was shut off. There was no damage to the pipe. The pump station was turned off, according to Urrutia in a call with LPR.

He said according to the contract between GBRA, Luling, and Lockhart, the City of Luling has first rights to the water. Since the Luling system was experiencing so many leaks, GBRA had to prioritize sending water to Luling to get levels back up. 

With the City of Luling now out of crisis, Lockhart can begin filling their tanks.