KEMPNER, Texas (KXXV) — “Hurricane Beryl came to the coast on the 8th, and it started causing some serious issues with chlorine supply,” said Bruce Sorenson, General Manager of Kempner Water Supply.
Houston is one of the main distributors for chlorine gas, which is used in water treatment plants.
After Beryl hit, the demand outpaced supply. That left Kempner Water Supply’s plant to find other providers to help disinfect and treat the water.
“Our supplier was borrowing from others to get us our chlorine,” Sorenson said.
“We ordered in advance. We made sure that our orders were ahead of schedule.”
Staying on schedule is key, because Sorenson says Kempner Water is required by the state to make sure the chlorine is in contact with the water for a certain amount of time.
On top of that, in the summertime, more chlorine is needed to kill off bacteria in the water, as the heat causes it to dissipate faster.
“It slowed production down, because there was so much chlorine needed. We're able to produce a little less, but we managed to meet our demand,” Sorenson said.
This all comes after a summer of water woes for our neighbors, but Sorenson said things are on the up and up. He said their suppliers are catching up and looking to resume normal deliveries.
“The lake is slowly getting better, so hopefully going forward, we'll be okay with that,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson says the chlorine supply should be back to normal this week. He said this summer they have been adding two to three times the amount of chlorine, due to poor conditions in the lake.
