Copperas Cove Council Reviews the Stuck Valve That Cut Water to 90% of the City

In mid-August, about 90% of Copperas Cove went without water or water pressure. A city report says the cause was a single surge valve stuck open in an underground vault. City Council will go over that report Tuesday.

The council holds a workshop at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Technology Center, 508 S. 2nd Street, to review the after-action report on the August water emergency, according to the workshop agenda. The regular meeting follows at 6 p.m.

How one break turned into a citywide outage

According to the report, dated Sept. 17, the trouble began about 7 a.m. Aug. 16 with a water main break at Golf Course Road and Texas Street. Crews had it fixed in about six hours. While the line was being refilled, a 6-inch gate valve failed. Its stem came completely apart from the valve body. That valve tied the local line to an 18-inch transmission main, so the big main had to be shut down too.

When crews tried to refill the transmission main, the pumps ran but could not push water through it. Staff first suspected an air lock. At 1 p.m. Aug. 17, the city moved to Stage 4C of its drought contingency plan. Copperas Cove ISD and Lampasas ISD sent students home early and canceled classes Aug. 18 and 19.

The problem turned out to be a surge valve about 40 feet downstream of the pumps and about 10 feet below ground in a vault. It was stuck open and sent water straight back into the tank it came from. Workers closed it by hand. After about 14 hours of pumping, water returned. The system was back to normal about 10 a.m. Aug. 19, and the boil-water notice was lifted about 7:18 p.m. Aug. 20 after 25 bacteria samples and state checks.

Copperas Cove seen from Hollie Parsons School, 2009. Photo: Viceroy Bob / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Neighbors helped. Lampasas County and Bell County sent water buffaloes, and Killeen sent a 2,000-gallon tender of non-potable water. H-E-B, Walmart and Home Depot were among the businesses that supplied bottled water. As pressure came back, more lines broke at five more locations, from 6-inch mains to 1-inch service lines.

What the city says it will change

The report lists what went right and what did not. Among the fixes:

• CodeRed updates on a set schedule, such as every three hours, after residents complained there were too few

• A written troubleshooting checklist for when pumps run but water does not move, plus a controlled procedure for repressurizing the system, both due Jan. 31, 2027

• A review of how often critical surge valves are inspected and maintained, especially those in underground vaults, with spare parts kept on hand

• A look at adding the equipment to the city’s remote monitoring system so operators can spot trouble sooner

• Closing only food service businesses in a future emergency. During the outage, police and code staff told businesses to close and cited a few restaurants that stayed open.

Sending back $3.1 million

At the regular meeting, the council will be asked to return $3,121,224.32 in federal defense grant money, according to the meeting packet. The city won $10,308,877 in 2024 to build State Highway 9 ramps at Tank Destroyer Boulevard. The city paid the full amount to TxDOT in advance, and the federal government reimbursed it. TxDOT’s construction contract with Big Creek Construction came in at $7,187,652.68.

The city proposed spending $1,974,971 of the difference on more SH 9 road work. The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation denied that on Aug. 16 and asked for the balance back. Staff recommend paying it from reserves, which would be refilled when TxDOT refunds the city. The city asked TxDOT for that refund in an Oct. 7 letter.

Residents may speak for up to five minutes during the citizens forum at the regular meeting.

Related on Dock Line: The Water Still Moves Through Pipes. The Threat Can Come Through a Wire.; Killeen Hires a New City Manager at $260,000. One Council Member Balked at the Contract.