HOUSTON — It's been a week since Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner put out a request for more contractors to help fix water main breaks across the city. Since then, the issue has gotten much worse.
The city said as of Wednesday, it's dealing with more than 500 active water leaks, which is roughly five times the amount of leaks they normally have.
One leak that has been a major pain for about a month is the water main break near the North Loop and Homestead Road.
A KHOU 11 viewer got so desperate for help, that she sent us a video of the waterline that had been broken since August 5.
She said she had witnessed several "near miss" car accidents due to the flooding, one even involving an 18-wheeler.
Fortunately, crews showed up Wednesday morning to start working on the issue. It took them six hours to fix.
Just six miles down the road, there was another water main leak at Bellfort and Chimney Rock.
Neighboring businesses, including a car wash, said they lost water because of it.
“I’m just sitting there and the machine is going but I don’t see any water," a customer at the car wash said.
In the same day, another water main break was found in southwest Houston at Kirkwood and Bellfort.
What's causing these water main breaks? The hot temperatures combined with the lack of rain are causing the soil to harden and shift, sometimes breaking the pipes underneath.
RELATED: Dry soil, water leaks and increased consumption led to Houston's mandatory water restrictions
To help city crews mitigate the problems, Mayor Turner asked for help from contractors. So far, four contractors have joined the team of six.
"The appeal that was made last week for more contractors, those contractors have responded, they’re being vetted and we’re putting more out there," Turner said.
It could be a week or more for a crew to respond to a water main break, but Mayor Turner said everyone needs to do their part during this time.
“I am asking people to continue to comply with Stage 2 because that helps with water pressure for everybody," Turner said. "And I know it’s hard on the lawns, I got that, I understand that. But we just need to manage the situation through this extreme weather crisis.”
The City of Houston entered Stage 2 of its Drought Contingency Plan on Sunday, August 27.
In Stage Two of the drought plan, outdoor water use must be limited to the hours of 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. with the following schedule:
- Sundays and Thursdays for single-family residential customers with even-numbers street addresses
- Saturdays and Wednesdays for single-family residential customers with odd-number street addresses
- Tuesdays and Fridays for all other customers
Residents who violate the water conservation order could be punished. For the first violation, you'll receive a written warning. All other violations are subject to a fine of up to $2,000.