Boil water advisory lifted for City of San Marcos water customers

SAN MARCOS, Texas - The City of San Marcos says it has lifted the boil water advisory for all city water customers, effective Sunday, Feb. 21.

The city says that as of Saturday afternoon, all City water system repairs were completed and pressure with the system stabilized to allow water samples to be collected per TCEQ requirements.

Lab results returned Sunday confirmed no contamination had occurred, says the city.

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 7 AUSTIN NEWS APP

Addressing Electric Rates

In addition to lifting the boil water advisory, the city says that San Marcos Electric Utility (SMEU) has also completed all customer storm-related repairs, restoring power to the last remaining customers experiencing outages. Residents may return to normal electric and water consumption.

TDEM provides update on statewide winter weather response

Chief Nim Kidd of TDEM said one of their top priorities right now is getting bottled water to people.

The city also addressed concerns about spikes in utility rates due to media reports of some Texans reporting energy bills in the thousands following the power outages, with one Arlington family reporting a bill of $17,000 for three meters over five days of use.

The city says that SMEU is a city-owned municipal utility and rates are set by City ordinance in coordination with the City budget process. There will be no increase in rates for SMEU customers at this time. However, customer usage will likely be much higher than normal due to the nearly two weeks of extremely cold weather, which may result in higher than normal bills this billing period.

However, for those who log in to Customer Connect and see on their usage graph usage for days you had no electricity, the city says that this is how the information is displayed during a power interruption, but customers will not be charged for usage during those times.

The system used to provide daily readings on graphs in Customer Connect is separate from the City’s billing system. The billing system uses only the total actual Kilowatt-hours used at your meter at the end of your billing cycle. Customers will only pay for the actual Kilowatts used during the billing cycle at their home or business so please keep this in mind as you review the Customer Connect usage information for the days you had no electricity.

Central Texas faces water shortage due to severe winter weather

County and City officials have been working around the clock to get water from all over the country and bring it to Austin.

To report a power outage email poweroutinfo@sanmarcostx.gov or call 512-393-8313.

Plumbing Permit Fees Waived

In order to relieve the financial burden on residents and businesses as a result of plumbing repairs made necessary by the winter storm event, the San Marcos City Council is temporarily waiving fees for permits for these repairs. This temporary waiver is in effect through the end of day on Thursday, April 1, and will be considered for ratification by Council at their meeting on Wednesday, February 24.

SIGN UP FOR FOX 7 AUSTIN EMAIL ALERTS

The City says in most cases, a plumbing permit will still be required for all repair work and may be applied for online, 24-hours-a-day. To find additional details about plumbing requirements and who may apply for the permit, click here.

If you need to report a water issue at your home or business, email waterwastewaterinfo@sanmarcostx.gov or call 512-393-8010.

As temperatures have warmed up, the City says the temporary winter weather call center will be closed as of 8 p.m. today.