CRRUA says Santa Teresa arsenic treatment facility was offline for 18 hours

SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) Santa Teresa Industrial Plant (STIP) arsenic treatment facility was taken offline for about 18 hours between February 21 and 22, 2024. Officials say a flow meter malfunction forced crews to take the facility offline.

“At 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 21, the certified treatment facility operator and I determined that the best course of action was to take the STIP offline until the situation was remedied," CRRUA interim executive director Juan Carlos Crosby said. They turned it back on at 9:30 a.m. Thursday after the flow meter started working again "on its own overnight."

“The STIP is functioning properly now,” Crosby said. “At no time did customers go without water because they received water from the facility’s storage tank.”

An electronics specialist will do a diagnostic examination of the flow meter soon.