City Of Oklahoma City Updates Weather-Related Water Issues

6:30 p.m. Update: The City of Oklahoma City is asking residents to continue conserving water as of 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening.

In a situation update, city officials asked that customers only drip faucets that are on exterior walls. If you don’t have any indoor exterior faucets, drip an internal faucet to keep water flowing.

The city offered ways customers can help to conserve water issuing these tips and reminders in the following press release saying:

Consider skipping loads of laundry and only run your dishwasher when necessary. Customers can also take shorter showers, turn off the water when brushing your teeth, make sure sprinklers are turned off and promptly repair household leaks. System-wide demand for water continues to be high, double our typical water demand during the winter.

Water storage tanks are taking longer to fill up contributing to low-water pressure and service interruptions. Typically, nighttime flows are reduced, allowing for water storage tanks to fill. With customers streaming multiple faucets night and day, coupled with system and private water line breaks, water storage tanks are not refilling causing low-pressure and water service interruptions for some customers.

Use water wisely and protect your water lines:

Leave your cabinet doors open to allow warm air to circulate.

Consider only dripping indoor faucets that are on exterior walls. If you don’t have indoor exterior faucets, drip internal faucets to keep water flowing.

Do not try to use open flames or boiling water to thaw pipes.

Know where your water shutoff is in case of an emergency.

While our system is capable of meeting high demands during the summertime, regularly scheduled wintertime facility repair has reduced system capacity. Please help your neighbors by using water efficiently.

The original story is below.

The City of Oklahoma City said the record cold weather has caused "a substantial number of water line breaks."

The city said 31 of its water mains have ruptured while crews responded to over 400 residential calls of frozen water pipes.

A booster station on the northwest side is experiencing "mechanical issues" which has caused customers to see diminished water pressure or lose water service altogether.

The city said is also seeing increased water demand. According to the city, a typical winter day consists of approximately 75 million gallons of water per day. During this week's winter weather, that demand has jumped to over 150 million gallons of water per day.