AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Just over 72 hours after it was issued, Austin Water officials lifted the utility's third system-wide boil water notice in four years late Tuesday night.
"Water quality testing submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has confirmed that tap water meets all regulatory standards and is safe for human consumption," Austin Water officials said in a statement.
“The Boil Water Notice has been lifted and customers can resume use of their tap water for consumption,” said Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros. “Austin Water will immediately begin a thorough review of the incident and will implement any necessary process improvements to avoid operator errors in the future.”
“Thank you for your patience. We should not be dealing with frequent water boils, and we all have questions. The Council will be meeting next week so that the City Manager can answer questions for us and the public. We need to be confident that this won’t happen again,” said Mayor Steve Adler. “In the meantime, thank you to the staff and the State regulators who have enabled the water boil notice to be lifted quickly and to all the volunteers, businesses, donors, city and county personnel that were able to get thousands of bottles and gallons of water out to those that were in need. I continue to be inspired by all the ways our community comes together to help one another in times of need. And we are ready to get past such “times in need.”
While the notice has been lifted for Austin Water and several of its wholesale customers, there are some wholesale customers who remain under boil water notices while further testing is completed. Those include the Rivercrest Water System, Morningside Subdivision, Nighthawk WSC, Shady Hollow MUD, City of Sunset Valley, Creedmoor-Maha WSC, Marsha WSC, and High Valley WSC. Customers of these systems are urged to contact their providers for further updates.
With the boil water notice lifted, customers are encouraged to flush their household pipes, ice makers, water fountains, and other items prior to using them for drinking or cooking. Flushing simply means letting the water run to ensure that there is fresh water flowing through your pipes.
Follow these guidelines for flushing:
*Run all cold-water faucets in your home for one minute
*To flush automatic ice makers, make three batches of ice and discard
*Run water softeners through a regeneration cycle
Customers can visit www.austintexas.gov/page/boil-water-notice-and-faqs for more information and frequently asked questions.