CLWSC Says Service Should Be Restored to All Customers Monday but Issues Do Not Drink Order for 570 Homes after Well Vandalized

Canyon Lake Water Service Company (CLWSC) said it expects to have water service restored to all customers by Monday morning, but warned residents living in some 570 homes they are under do-not-drink orders after a well containing naturally occurring arsenic was brought back online by vandals.

The utility said there may be exceptions for customers living at higher elevations or those who had service-line breaks or their water shut off at the curb. Customers are asked to report leaks, which continue to plague efforts to restore full-water pressure.

The boil-water advisory remains in effect, CLWSC said in a statement Sunday night. Customers will be notified when advisories are lifted in various systems.

Arsenic Well Vandalized

However, vandalism at a well on Feb. 17 caused the water company to issue a do-not-drink order for residents living in 570 homes in Lantana Ridge, Cypress of the Guadalupe, Riverwood Estates and Woods of Spring Branch. Customers in these areas are asked not to use water from the well until laboratory test results are released on Thursday.

CLWSC said it knows who vandalized the well and has referred the matter to local law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) also is aware of the situation.

“Tampering with a public water system is considered a felony and perpetrators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the company said in its statement. “Right now our focus is on getting a safe supply of water to residents in your neighborhood.”

CLWSC Statement

“A number of wells and water sources supply the tap water provided across our service area and to this system. A well that is part of the supply for these areas was taken out of service in 2018 because routine water-quality testing showed levels of naturally occurring arsenic levels approaching the maximum level allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. As such, we moved it from service and it has not been an active water source since 2018.

“At no time did the water-quality tests show that the well did not meet state-and-federal drinking standards, however it was taken offline out of an abundance of caution. The level of arsenic detected in this well has been publicly available for the last few years in the Consumer Confidence Reports issued by the company annually and posted to our website HERE.

“In an act of vandalism on Feb. 17, someone put that well back into production.

“As soon as we were made aware of the situation on Feb. 19, we again removed the well from operation and issued a Do Not Drink alert for any customer in the system who may be impacted by the unauthorized activation of this well. The Do Not Drink alert remains in effect. We ask that customers in Lantana Ridge, Cypress of the Guadalupe, Riverwood Estates and Woods of Spring Branch not consume the water from their taps at all until we can confirm through water-quality testing that the water meets all state-and-federal drinking water standards.

“We began water sampling of the system over the weekend and are awaiting lab tests to confirm that the water meets all state-and-federal drinking water standards. When we receive that confirmation, we will notify customers that the Do Not Drink order has been lifted. We are doing everything we can to expedite the processing of the samples, but we do not expect to have the laboratory results before Thursday.

• Please do not utilize your tap water for drinking or cooking until the Do Not Drink Order has been lifted. The company will notify you directly when it is safe to resume normal use of your water.
• Water can be used for handwashing, toilet flushing, showering and laundry.
• While the boil-water notices have been issued for customers in other CLWSC/SJWTX systems, that does not apply for your system and boiling water is not a solution for you at this time.