A city-wide precautionary boil water notice has been issued. Austin Water’s Ullrich Water Treatment Plant is out of service due to an internal treatment process issue that resulted in high turbidity within the plant. Crews and officials are working diligently to address the issue and restore operations at Ullrich Water Treatment Plant. Austin Water is currently maintaining water service to customers by increasing water production at Davis and Handcox Water Treatment Plants and by carefully managing pumping within the network of water pipelines. There have been no power disruptions at drinking water plants. Any water recovered from plumbing systems should be boiled before drinking or cooking with it.
From District 10 at 6:58 p.m. February 6, 2022
| Dear Neighbors, I wanted to provide an evening update on the boil water situation. The City Manager told me that the failure to maintain normal water service was due to personnel at the Ullrich water plant failing to follow required protocols and warnings. I can assure you that my colleagues and I on the City Council will get more details and take appropriate action beginning this week. There is some good news. Ullrich Plant is now fully operational again. It went out of service because of higher turbidity levels caused by the above personnel issue. It will now take approximately 48 hours to lift the water boil notice because the regulatory agency, TCEQ, requires sampling and testing in that time frame. This is all I know about the water failure. I have spent the day following up with all of the appropriate city officials. I will continue to do this and I will share detailed information with you. My priority is to restore normal water service and then make sure this does not happen again. Water distribution will continue tomorrow. The City is focused on delivering bottled water to the most vulnerable and you can find updated details on locations at Active Emergency Information Hub | AustinTexas.gov. If you are or know a homebound individual, please call 311 and request a water delivery. Please see the 5 PM news conference video here. Regards, Alison Alter Mayor Pro Tem City Council Member, District 10 |
From District 10’s Councilmember Alter Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 11:19 a.m.
Dear Neighbors, I understand that many of you are frustrated with the water boil order, especially after two ice days and two years of pandemic restrictions. For all of us, especially those with children and elderly relatives, this has been a very difficult period. Our City leadership is devoted to doing everything we can to restore normal water service as quickly as possible. This is my most important immediate priority and I will keep you informed. This morning I am writing to share some additional information that you may find useful as we navigate this boil water notice. Below I have included the latest updates regarding the steps required to lift the boil water notice and initial water distribution locations. I just communicated with Austin Water. Their most current estimate is that normal water service will be restored by sometime Tuesday, hopefully sooner. We should have a greater understanding on timing after 3 pm today and I will keep you informed as I learn more. I also have communicated your frustrations to the leadership of Austin Water and emphasized the need to get water service restored as soon as possible. Please share this information with your neighbors. I will continue to provide updates on Facebook, Twitter, and via my email newsletter as I receive them. I also recommend bookmarking AustinTexas.gov/Alerts. As a reminder, drinking/cooking water must be at a rolling boil for two minutes before consumption, and mandatory water conservation measures are in effect. Read more on this FAQ page. Regards, Alison AlterMayor Pro TemCouncil Member, District 10 How Does the Boil Water Notice Get Lifted? Lifting the Boil Water Notice in this instance involves five steps. We have completed the first step: Ullrich Water Treatment Plant is back online. Once normal operations are restored, water sampling will be conducted to test the water quality. Test results can take up to a day to receive. Once we are confident that treated water meets water quality standards, we submit documentation to the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality who authorizes lifting the Boil Water Notice. Public Water Distribution Sites Four water distribution sites will be open to the public Sunday as part of a phased plan to help residents during the Citywide Boil Water Notice in effect for Austin. The sites are in the following locations: Travis County Expo Center7311 Decker Lane, Austin, TX 78724Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Austin Water Glen Bell Service Center*3907 S. Industrial Dr, Austin, TX 78744Hours: Open 24 Hours* Customers must bring an empty water container. Austin Water North Service Center*901 W Koenig Ln, Austin, TX 78756Hours: Open 24 Hours* Customers must bring an empty water container. Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex10211 W Parmer Ln, Austin, TX 78717Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Most of the sites opening in the first phase were selected based on community need prioritizing areas with high levels of food insecurity. Residents who have the ability and means are asked to purchase their own water so that limited supplies at distribution sites can go to those who need it most. The City plans to open more sites as additional water supply becomes available. |
From District 10 Council Member:
Dear Neighbors,
A little bit ago the City Manager informed me that Austin Water is issuing a PRECAUTIONARY BOIL WATER notice effective immediately. Austin Water is also asking each of us to conserve water. Below you will find the notice and available information on the cause and duration. You can find answers to frequently asked questions related to Boil Water notices in general below and at this link (Boil Water Notice and FAQs | AustinTexas.gov).
For those without the ability to boil water, the City will be operating water distribution locations. I will share distribution details as soon as I have them on my Facebook and Twitter and send an email.I recognize this is not the news that any of us wanted to hear and I am sorry that this step is necessary. The immediate concern is to spread the word on the need to boil water and to act accordingly. In the coming days, we will investigate what led to this situation and take appropriate actions.
Sincerely,
Alison Alter
Mayor Pro Tem