Boil water notice lifted Sunday
The notice, which lasted six days, forced the university to set up free water stations around the UT campus.
Austin Water lifted the city’s boil water notice Sunday afternoon after one week.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality tested the water and confirmed it was safe for Austin residents to use for drinking, cooking and making ice.
“We are fully confident that the tap water is safe to drink,” Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk said Sunday at a press conference.
The notice was originally issued Oct. 22, after unprecedented flooding caused high levels of silt to flow into the lakes, leaving Austin water plants unable to treat the water.
“The next steps are going to be figuring out what was the cause of this and how we can get better at emergency response and communication.” Jimmy Johnson, assistant vice president for campus safety, said in an email to the UT community that campus water fountains will be considered safe to use after the trash bags have been removed, and stand-alone ice machines will have signs posted when they are safe to use.
“The university has developed a coordinated plan to quickly and systematically enable the consumption of water on campus.” While residents are not required to flush their pipes, there are still water restrictions in place.
At 10 a.m. on Monday, the restrictions on irrigation and washing vehicles will be lifted.
Austin Water also recommends removing at least one quart of water from your refrigerator water dispenser before consumption and emptying any ice created during the notice.
Waterway bans for Lake Austin and Lake Travis still remain in effect and will be reevaluated Monday.