LEANDER, Texas — The city of Leander has returned to Phase 2 water restrictions following repairs to a pipeline that delivers water from Lake Travis. Phase 2 allows for outdoor watering one day a week.
Leander has been in Phase 4 restrictions since Feb. 12 as work was completed on around 1,400 feet of underwater raw water pipeline. Under Phase 4, outdoor watering was prohibited.
The pipeline work, which began on Feb. 28, is now complete and Leander is again receiving water from the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority (BCRUA) treatment plan, the city said on Tuesday.
Phase 2 limits landscape irrigation by automated systems, hose-end sprinklers, soaker hoses and drip irrigation to one day a week, from 12 a.m. to 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. to 12 a.m., depending on the ending number of the address. This applies to both residential and commercial properties. Under Phase 2, handheld watering is allowed at any time.
Below is the water schedule for residential or commercial based on the ending number of water meter addresses:
- 2, 4 – Monday
- 1, 5 – Tuesday
- 6 – Wednesday
- 0 – Thursday
- 9 – Friday
- 8 – Saturday
- 3, 7 – Sunday
Leander was in Phase 4 water restrictions because the BCRUA shut down its water treatment plant during the pipeline work. This reduced the city’s overall water treatment capacity from about 24 million gallons per day to 9 million gallons per day from the city’s smaller Sandy Creek Water Treatment Plant.
During the pipeline repair, Leander said water customers used less than 9 million gallons per day. City leaders said that reduction was critical so they didn't experience a system failure, which would lead to the entire city to go into a boil water notice.