TUESDAY UPDATE: Austin Water ended its boil water notice citywide. Read the story here.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Water has started to lift its boil water notice. It has done so for downtown Austin, and significant portions of central, east, south, north and northwest Austin. Full restoration citywide could come later Monday, according to Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros.
As of 2:40 p.m. Monday, the boil water notice remains in effect for the Southwest A, B and C pressure zones and the Northwest B and C pressure zones.
“We expect to have all of Austin with water service by today and boil water notice lifted city-wide shortly after,” Meszaros said.
You can view the interactive map Austin Water created to get a better idea of whether the boil water notice has ended in your neighborhood. Areas shaded green are safe to drink, but if you live in one of the areas shaded orange, you’ll still need to boil your water for now.
Note: The function where you type in your address does not always work, but you can still zoom in to your location.
While the areas in green on the map no longer have to boil their water, that apparently does not include the University of Texas. UT said it still believes students should boil their water, and the university will let students know when it’s safe to drink again.
Austin first announced the citywide boil water notice on Wednesday after its largest water treatment plant temporarily lost electricity during the winter storm power outages. Water demand also rose 250% due to thousands of water pipes that burst during the storm, including large water main breaks like the one that shut down seven blocks of Lavaca Street downtown.
Water distribution continues Monday
As Austin Water attempts to return full water service to all of Austin, water distribution events will continue Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As you can see in the city’s tweet, there will be water distribution at 10 locations Monday spread out across the city:
- ACC Pinnacle Campus
- Nelson Field
- Onion Creek Soccer Complex
- Roy G. Guerrero Park
- ACC Highland Mall parking lot
- Garrison Park
- Lakeline Station
- Walnut Creek Park
- Zilker Park
- Anderson High School
UT was holding a water distribution at the Vibe on Riverside apartments, 1600 Wickersham Lane, Monday from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Students can go there to get bottled water, but they must show their UT student ID.
More testing required for wholesale Austin Water customers
Austin Water says its wholesale customers are doing more regulatory work with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. That’s necessary before Austin Water lifts the boil water notice for those customers, which include:
- Creedmoor Maha WSC
- Nighthawk WSC
- Travis County WCID #10
Those customers should contact their provider directly for updates, Austin Water says.
