Bethel tells water customers to get their lines and tanks ready for freeze-up

The City of Bethel told water customers Thursday to get ready for freeze-up. In a notice, it told piped-water customers to turn on the heat trace or glycol lines on their service lines and make sure they work. Customers whose water and sewer come by truck should keep their hookups reachable on service days, it said.

If a service line freezes, fixing it is up to the property owner. The city owns the water and sewer mains, but the line that runs from the main to a house belongs to the property owner, and so do the repairs, according to the city's guide for piped customers. If a home has no water and the neighbors do, the guide says, the problem may be a frozen or clogged service line.

The National Weather Service's forecast Friday had Bethel's highs staying below freezing from Sunday into next week, with lows dropping to around 18 by Monday night.

The city's guide describes two piped systems. Bethel Heights runs on gravity, and the city recommends heat tape on service lines when temperatures drop, tested regularly. When the lines are properly maintained, the guide says, there's no need to leave water running. In City Subdivision, the lines are heated with glycol, and residents are supposed to turn on two circulating pumps inside their homes in mid-October to help keep them from freezing.

In February 2025, part of the Bethel Heights system went under a boil-water notice after its water pressure dropped below 20 psi. The notice said the water would be tested after the lines were thawed.

Many Bethel homes still get their water by truck. The city's hauled services guide asks those customers to use heat tape or heat sticks on their lines, watch their tanks for freezing and have sewer tanks thawed before the truck arrives. Fill and overflow pipes need to be clear of snow and ice, and the path to the tanks clear of snow piles, parked vehicles, freezer vans, snowmachines and anything else in a driver's way, the city's hauled services page says.

When a driver can't make a delivery, the driver leaves a blue tag on the door and tries again before the end of the route. If the problem is still there, the customer is charged a delivery fee and has to reschedule.

Customers who need water or a sewer pickup between service days can request an extra one. An emergency request that has the crew working outside its regular shift costs another $150, and if the crew can't provide the service because of frozen lines or a blocked path, the customer is charged as if it had, according to the city's utility page. Customers leaving town can ask for a free hold that pauses water and sewer service and charges, which the city says also avoids freeze-ups.

The crew that makes those deliveries had five of its 19 budgeted positions filled in an Oct. 8 city staffing report. Public Works Director Bill Arnold wrote Sept. 30 that another driver would start in October and that he was trying to hire one more because two drivers would be out for the month of November. "Nothing we can't handle," he wrote.