The Associated Press Originally published December 1, 2017 at 10:42 am
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Galveston city workers have discovered a leak in a nearby water line that had been pouring an average of 3 million gallons of water into the city’s storm sewer system each day for years.
The Galveston County Daily News reports that city workers found the leak Nov. 18 while trying to set up new back-flow prevention devices that could potentially delay the effects of sea level rise.
City Manager Brian Maxwell says workers capped the line to stop the flow. Maxwell says the 10-inch line was supposedly abandoned by Galveston in the mid-1900s and doesn’t appear on any recent city maps.
Maxwell believes the leak occurred for at least seven years. Assistant City Manager Brandon Cook says the city’s had to buy 3 million gallons less water a day since capping the line.
