Houston's public schools will be shuttered once again on Tuesday, Nov. 29. This follows a power failure at a water treatment facility on Sunday, Nov. 27, that mandated all of the residents boil their water before it could be used.
City water officials had hoped to withdraw the boil water advisory for the city's 2.3 million people by Tuesday morning, but that has yet to occur.
Weekend Power Outage
According to Gizmodo, local television station ABC 13 reported that a transformer at the East Water Purification Plant failed early on Sunday morning, resulting in a power outage at the facility.
For whatever reason, neither the backup transformer nor the backup generator started up.
"We do know that the two transformers malfunctioned. One was a backup to the other. It was just one of those unique circumstances in which you have these transformers that malfunction and then you have the backup that malfunctioned," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in the interview.
The city of Houston paid NRG Energy Services $56 million to provide emergency power to the East Water Purification Plant. However, the emergency power did not activate.
Gizmodo's requests for comment sent to NRG early Tuesday morning went unanswered.
Impact on Water Pressure
About half an hour after the electricity went out on Sunday morning, the water pressure dropped, as reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
According to the article, fourteen of the power plant's sixteen sensors dipped below "emergency" levels for around two minutes, while the other two sensors fell below "emergency" levels for 30 minutes.
City water officials continue to think that tainted water did not enter the system because of a loss of water pressure at the water treatment plant.
However, definitive testing may take as long as 18 hours, prompting a citywide boil water advisory to ensure everyone's safety.
Canceled Classes
Houston Independent School District (HISD) tweeted on Sunday night that all schools and facilities will be closed on Tuesday, Nov. 29, because of a Boil Water Notice issued by the city.
🚨Due to the Boil Water Notice issued by the City of Houston Sunday evening, all Houston ISD campuses and facilities will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 29.
— Houston ISD (@HoustonISD) November 28, 2022
The notification presented significant logistical difficulties, leading to this conclusion. The school district said that because of these issues, the district is unable to supply kids with meals and guarantee that all students and employees have access to clean water.
HISD added that unless otherwise ordered by their department head, all workers will be working from home.
They also urge students to make use of online academic tools that are accessible around the clock, even while they are not on campus.
Despite claiming that three power plants had lost electricity, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement on Sunday that he was redirecting state resources to Houston. Gizmodo stated that why the governor's declaration differed from the city's is unclear at this time.
Written by Tech Times writer Trisha Kae Andrada
