07 Oct Pipeline Hit by Back-to-Back Leaks

Corpus Christi officials attribute a second leak in the Mary Rhodes Pipeline to aging infrastructure and obsolete construction methods. The newest breach was discovered just two weeks after crews repaired an earlier breakdown along the same line.

The second leak was detected while workers attempted to restart the system following the replacement of a 17-foot section located roughly midway along the 101-mile route from Lake Texana. According to an Oct. 5 statement from Corpus Christi Water, initial assessments identified the point of failure as a welded manway, an integrated maintenance hatch situated near the O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant.

City representatives noted that the manway originated during the pipeline’s initial construction over a quarter-century ago and incorporated outdated design standards. Utility crews are replacing a 24-foot section surrounding the failed access point, with limited operations anticipated to resume as early as Oct. 6.

Initial repairs began when the first leak was uncovered on Sept. 19. Prior to the shutdowns, the Mary Rhodes Pipeline supplied approximately 72 million gallons of water daily to Corpus Christi. During the outage, the municipal water system has relied entirely on alternative supplies from Lake Corpus Christi and groundwater well fields in rural Nueces County.