Texas Boil Water Notice
February 20, 2021 (updated February 24, 2021)
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is the environmental agency for the state.
Last Sunday, Texas had 1,331 public water systems with reported disruptions in service due to the weather, many of them leading to Boil Water Notices. This affected over 12 million Texans in 190 counties. However, after completing the required repairs and water quality sampling, and in consultation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) many BWNs have been rescinded.
A Boil Water Notice (BWN) is issued as a precaution or notification to protect consumers from drinking water that may have been contaminated with disease causing organisms (also called pathogens). BWNs are typically issued when an unexpected condition has caused a potential for biological contamination of potable drinking water in a public water system.
The BWN must be issued as soon as possible, but in no case later than 24 hours after the violation or condition occurs. The PWS must use the mandatory language for issuing a BWN and use specialized methods of delivery.
Under TCEQ rules, public water systems must issue BWNs if any of these conditions occur:
- water outages
- low distribution pressures (below 20 pounds per square inch)
- microbiological samples found to contain elevated E. coli levels.
- inadequate disinfectant residuals (0.2 mg/L free chlorine or 0.5 mg/L chloramines).
- elevated surface water turbidities such as clay, silt or algae
- other conditions indicating drinking water supply has been compromised.
A PWS shall not rescind a BWN until it has provided required compliance documentation to the TCEQ which shows that the PWS has met the following requirements:
- determine that water in their system does not pose an acute health risk.
- flush, disinfect affected areas or the entire distribution system.
- collect bacteriological samples and obtain negative coliform results.
- return to normal operating parameters, including power restoration.
- maintain required water pressure levels (water distribution pressures greater than 20 psi are consistently maintained throughout the distribution system.
- minimum disinfectant residual levels, (0.2 mg/L free chlorine or 0.5 mg/L total chlorine) in each finished water storage tank and throughout the distribution system.
- no excessive turbidity. PWSs with surface water and groundwater under the influence of surface water sources only: water entering the distribution system has a turbidity level that is consistently maintained below 1.0 NTU.
Major Texas Public Water Systems With Rescinded BWNs:
City of Dallas
Dallas was not under a boil advisory, but officials had problems with frozen water pipes, said Catherine Cuellar, the city’s director of communications, outreach and marketing. The Dallas Water Utilities has gotten 10 times the number of calls it usually gets in a given day for a leak or break, she said.
City of Houston (BWN was lifted February 21, 2021) affecting over 2.3 million Texans.
Before water is safe to use for drinking or cleaning dishes, the city told Houstonians to take the following steps:
- Run a cold tap for 1 minute to flush the pipes.
- If you have an ice maker, clean it, and make and discard three batches of ice before using.
- Run water softeners through a regeneration cycle.
- Remove and clean screens on faucets.
Water pressure plummeted last week during the winter storm as frigid temperatures led to frozen and burst pipes, and failing infrastructure, prompting water pressure to drop below 20 pounds per square inch, or PSI — a level that automatically triggered a water boil advisory due to state regulations.
By Saturday morning, Houston was averaging 50 PSI across the system. In order to lift the boil advisory, the water needed to average 35 PSI before collecting water samples and sending them in to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Those samples returned results at safe levels Sunday, the city said.
Carol Haddock, director of Houston Public Works, said the city of Houston’s water system is at full operational pressures.
Mayor Sylvester Turner praised Houston Public Works for “working around the clock” to get the state’s largest water system back up and running.
However, the mayor acknowledged that tens of thousands of people still can’t access water.
“Because so many pipes have burst across our region, even with the boil water notice having been lifted, people still need water,” Turner said. “We want to be mindful that even though for many the situation has improved, for many the situation is still dire. And we don’t want to leave anybody behind.”
With power and water restored in Houston, Turner said it’s time to enter the recovery phase.
Sending a request through the Texas Division of Emergency Management, Turner has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to send licensed plumbers and supplies to the Houston area. He cautioned Houstonians to make sure they are only hiring licensed plumbers to repair their water-damaged homes.
Area plumbers are working overtime to fix leaks and problems related to last week’s freeze but say they are running into the same challenges as homeowners: scarcity of supply of the most-needed materials.
“Copper is gold right now,” Kenya Banks said, taking a break from sliding insulation and PVC pipe into place in his truck. “You can’t find it.”
With such widespread damage, plumbers, contractors and city officials expect weeks, if not months, of work ahead repairing pipes, patching holes in walls and ceilings, and replacing ruined floors and furnishings.
Plumbers and many do-it-yourself hopefuls said they know some of the repairs are just temporary fixes, and summer could include a lot of more permanent projects.
And Turner promised that Houstonians would not have to pay exorbitant water bills due to burst pipes. The city will amend those bills.
Haddock said water bills are automatically generated, and the city is in the process of reprogramming its system to not send out exorbitant bills.
“But because they are auto-generated, if you do get one, please do not panic,” Haddock said. “We will reissue a corrected bill. We will make sure that you are not responsible for these high bills due to leaks.”
City of Austin (BWN was lifted February 23, 2021) affecting over 1.1 million Texans.
A boil water notice that was issued for the city of Austin last week as freezing temperatures ravaged the state has been lifted by Austin Water.
“Austin Water has lifted the boil water notice for all customers,” officials said Tuesday on Twitter. “Customers no longer need to boil water used for drinking, cooking and making ice.”
As customers return to regular water use, the water distribution system will continue equalizing and improving overall system pressure and clarity.
“There is still a lot to do to repair water pipelines that were damaged by the freezing weather, but customers should only experience occasional impacts from that work. We are thankful for the community’s efforts to conserve water over this past week to help us restore our operations today,” said Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros in a statement.
The San Antonio Water System (BWN was lifted February 23, 2021) affecting over 2 million Texans.
All SAWS customers can now use their tap water without boiling, San Antonio Water System announced Tuesday.
After completing the required water quality sampling, and in consultation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) SAWS scientists determined that additional areas of San Antonio will be released from the Boil Water Notice immediately.
TCEQ regional personnel are also working with local officials to bring wastewater systems back online as expeditiously as possible. As of 10:45 a.m. Saturday, 85 wastewater systems reported issues of some kind.
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