As many of you saw on Friday's post, we had a boil water notice for all of Houston. Millions of people had to boil water. It lasted through NOON on Saturday when the city finally lifted it.
Here is the notice sent to Houstonians:
ALERTHOUSTON
CITY OF HOUSTON LIFTS BOIL WATER NOTICE
Information
The City of Houston has lifted the boil water notice that has been in place since Thursday, February 27, 2020. Customers no longer need to boil water used for drinking, cooking and making ice. Water quality testing submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has confirmed that tap water meets all regulatory standards and is now safe to drink.
On February 27th, TCEQ required Houston Water to issue a boil water notice for the City of Houston’s Main Water System (TX1010013), and inform customers, individuals, or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
Houston Water has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 12:00pm.
Next Steps
Customers should flush their water system by running cold-water faucets for at least one minute, cleaning automatic ice makers by making and discarding several batches of ice, and running water softeners through a regeneration cycle. Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses).
We thought everything would be back to normal and almost 48 hours with a boil water notice wasn't too bad of an experience.
Then our apartment building management sent this to all the residents:
Dear residents,
As of today the city has lifted the boil water notice for the water supply. This is a result of the water tests coming back satisfactory. In an overabundance of caution we plan to purge our water system on Monday, March 2, 2020. This requires the water supply to the entire building to be shut off for approximately 90 minutes. We have scheduled our water reservoir purge for 10:30 A.M., Monday, March 2, 2020. Water should be restored at 12:00 P.M.
It is our recommendation that until then you avoid drinking tap water in case the reservoir contains any bacteria. It is perfectly safe to shower, wash your hands, etc. Once the purge is complete on Monday, for added caution, we ask that you do the following:
1. Run your kitchen faucet for 15 minutes
2. Discard all ice from your freezer
3. Change your refrigerator water filter
Thanks for your patience in this matter.
So...we have had to stay on bottled water all weekend. It's been an interesting experience to say the least and we have an all new respect for fresh water. We didn't boil because we had some water that we normally have on hand (for the coffee maker and some hurricane prepping cases of bottled water). We used that for brushing our teeth, for cooking, drinking, etc. Then while I was at the farm Saturday I filled up some one gallon containers with water from the taps there. Also had some water bottles that we had saved from the last day or so and I filled those up as well.
Of course they always say not to let your pets drink the water either so we used the bottled water at first and then the well water from the farm for Hobart. He's loving drinking it. We just hope when we're back to normal he doesn't turn up his nose after having fresh well water from the country, ha.
Thanks for all your tips and well wishes. It's been an eye opening experience for us. We won't EVER be without some water as a backup. In the back of the closet, under the bed, wherever, it's good to have some fresh water because, as almost 3 million people learned a few days ago, things can change in an instant. Not having fresh water is kind of frightening.
Wow, what an experience y’all had. But a real eye-opener to how things we take for granted can change quickly. I know Hobart was happy with the well water you brought home. That is the best tasting water.
ReplyDeleteYour picture of Hobart reminds me of my 2 Siamese who refused to drink city tap water the last 5 years of their life. I had to buy them Ozarka spring water. I really didn’t blame them because chlorine-tasting water is kinda disgusting after having well water.
Thankfully, with my present kitty being a rescued cat, so far he’s not picky about his water.
I always wonder about abrupt notices that the water is okay since there is some in pipes and other places. Your apartment building operations sound more reasonable than run the faucets a minute solution. It's good you have a conscientious apartment owner.
ReplyDeletemy girls drink water filtered thru our brita pitcher. HI HANDSOME HOBART!
ReplyDeleteI was on the fence about getting a berkey, but I think it might be a sound investment. Nice that you had access to water at the farm. Now to get Hobart used to drinking as the peasants do!
ReplyDeleteSince we moved, we have been using our Berkey filter exclusively. Cant even stand the smell of chlorine, and the Berkey filters bacteria and 99.99 of viruses. I miss our well water.
ReplyDeleteThank You for keeping us updated on the situation.
ReplyDeleteSounds like things are somewhat getting back to normal.
I'm glad your building management is so cautious. I know it's difficult, though. When our kids were growing up, we went through a couple of weeks without tap water. Talk about a pain in the butt. We were fine with water to drink, but not being able to hop in the shower or run the dishwasher was a big change.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie