Amid Austin’s citywide water contamination issues, public health officials Thursday said no restaurant has been cited yet for using water straight from the tap nor has anyone been reported sick.
However, they said any illnesses associated with contaminated water would likely lay dormant until next week.
Since Monday, Austin has been under an unprecedented citywide boil water notice, the result of several weeks of rainfall, which set off destructive upstream flooding that flushed exceptional amounts of sediment and contaminants into Austin’s water source.
The citywide boil has impacted business operations throughout the city, forcing some establishments to temporarily close.
On Thursday, Austin Public Health Assistant Director Don Hastings attempted to quell patron worries and said the health department has ramped up inspections and no restaurants have been cited for using dirty water.
The target officials have cited for lifting the boil water notice is Sunday, although Hastings said no one is certain of that deadline.
He acknowledged the length of the boil water notice has been much longer than what is typical, however, this situation, he said, is less risky as well.
Boil notices usually are the result of a water pipe break somewhere along the system.
Those advisories are typically lifted within 24 to 48 hours as public works crews can come out and fix the pipe relatively quickly.
Although the target is Sunday, no one is certain when the water coming in to the treatment plants will fully clear up, which is why Austin Water officials said Wednesday that the situation’s timeline leans heavily on the weather.