From the Texas Tribune: Tens of thousands of people in Odessa have endured nearly 48 hours without water to drink, wash or flush toilets

Providing water is one of the basic functions of local government, aging infrastructure can make that difficult. 

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It has been nearly 48 hours since a water line broke in Odessa, leaving the entire city without water amid a dayslong heat wave and bringing the community’s daily lives to a screeching halt. The West Texas city has about 112,000 residents, but the water outage included parts outside the city limits, bringing the number of people affected closer to 165,000, officials have said.

. . . According to Odessa Mayor Javier Joven, the break occurred at 6 p.m. Monday near Tom Green Avenue between 42nd and San Jacinto streets. While maintenance crews were able to repair the break late Tuesday night, officials said the city’s water system needed another 12-14 hours to fully restart and be deemed safe for the community. That process started around 5 a.m Wednesday.

Temperatures in Odessa have been close to 100 degrees since Friday and reached a high of 106 on Sunday. Forecasts show it will stay like that the rest of the week, which has residents hoping the water is back on soon.

. . . During a news conference Tuesday, Tom Kerr, the city’s utilities director, said the line that broke is about 60 years old.

“Aging water systems are common throughout the country,” Kerr said. “It’s often difficult for municipalities to be able to afford to manage those systems as they age. That’s the situation we find ourselves in.”