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Aging pipes, weather conditions cause rising water main breaks in Cameron, city plans holiday contingency

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CAMERON, Texas (KRHD) — The City of Cameron has had about three water main breaks and sewer line repairs in December due in part to aging pipes and weather conditions.

  • Cameron resident Errol Williams lives in public housing and says he sometimes experiences occasional plumbing backups,
  • The City of Cameron has dealt with about three water main and sewer line breaks this month. There will be multiple water main and sewer line breaks this month.
  • City Manager Ricky Tow says a combination of weather conditions and aging pipes causes these issues.
  • The City will have staff on-call during the holidays if residents experience any water main or sewer line breaks.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Errol Williams recently moved back to Cameron.

"I was born here in Cameron, but I just came back from the East Coast in 38 years," Williams said.

But every once in a while, he has a problem.

"Where I stay in public housing, we've got a plumbing problem that backs up now and then," Williams said.

This month, the city had to repair at least three busted water mains and sewer lines so far.

15ABC talked to city manager Ricky Tow to see why.

"Why are we seeing some of these water main breaks this season?" 15ABC asked.

"Well, it's, you know, all relative to wet weather, dry weather, cold temperature, big snaps in the weather," Tow said.

And it depends on the age of the pipes.

"They're just older lines," Tow said.

Tow tells 15ABC that the city has a contingency plan for that over the holidays.

"If we do have any line breakage, we do have staff that will be on call throughout the holidays or work in normal shifts to continue the services," he said.

But Williams told 15ABC that everything eventually has to be replaced.

"I'm a pipe fitter," Williams said. "It has to be repaired. Stuff breaks. It has to be repaired."

But he also believes neighbors shouldn't be contributing to the problem.

"I think people are flushing things down the commode, and they're not supposed to be flushing down the commode," he said.


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