What is a Boil Water Notice?
It’s a notification that advises residents to boil their tap water used for consumption due to the potential for contamination. A Boil Water Notice is in effect until laboratory results show that water is safe from bacterial contamination. The tests usually take up to 24 hours to complete.
Boil water before doing the following
Boil water before doing the following
- Drinking
- Preparing baby formula
- Preparing food
- Washing produce
- Making ice
- Making coffee
- Preparing other drinks
- Brushing your teeth
- Giving pets water
- Use purified water for young children, people with weakened immune system, and open wounds.
Water use that does not require boiling beforehand:
Water use that does not require boiling beforehand:
- Laundry
- Dishwasher
- Washing hands
How do we notify customers that a Boil Water Notice is issued?
We will notify you by email, text alerts, the website, signs within the neighborhood, radio, TV, door tags, and newspaper. We’ll
use the same method to notify you the Boil Water Notice has been canceled.
When is a Boil Water Notice issued?
Because delivering clean water is our business, we adhere to stringent water quality testing and monitoring requirements to ensure that every drop of water delivered to your home or business meets or exceeds state and federal health and safety standards.
Sometimes, however, there is a possibility your water has become susceptible to contamination. The occurrences listed below may increase the risk of contaminants entering the drinking water treatment and distribution system?
- A water system completely loses water pressure, or the pressure goes below 20 psi (pounds per square inch)
- A pipeline breaks
- A distribution system interruption takes place (whether planned or as a result of human-made or natural disasters, such as hurricanes)
- Water samples indicate the presence of water borne pathogens
- A cross-connection is discovered that may have contaminated the water supply
- Increased run-off enters the drinking water source (e.g., following heavy rains)
When we issue a Boil Water Notice, testing has generally not yet been conducted to confirm or deny the presence of contamination in your water. Sometimes, water contamination chances are not likely, but we don’t want to take any chances with your family’s health. We take the protection of public health very seriously. In most cases, issuing a Boil Water Notice is a precautionary measure for our customers’ safety.
How much does boiling water accomplish?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), boiling is considered the most effective and safest water disinfection method. You may find that boiled water tastes relatively flat. To get rid of blandness, aerate it by pouring it back and forth from one container to another and allow it to stand for a few hours, or add a pinch of salt for each quart or liter of water boiled.
What do we do when there is a Boil Water Notice?
We are required to collect samples from the water source (e.g., a well), the original site where contamination may have been found, and upstream and downstream of that point, and get them tested for any continuing contamination before we can declare the water clean. Only after satisfactory lab results and, under certain circumstances, approval from the state’s regulatory agency can we then lift a Boil Water Notice.
For More Information
Emergency Disinfection of
Drinking Water (EPA)
Emergency Disinfection of
Drinking Water (EPA)
