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Why is San Antonio's water boil notice voluntary?

SAWS says water pressure problems are affecting customers in the far north and south sides of San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO — Texans afflicted with power problems are now facing water worries. The San Antonio Water System issued a voluntary boil water notice for the Alamo City.

Wednesday, the San Antonio Water System issued a boil water notice for San Antonio. The "boil water notice" is considered voluntary. Robert Puente of SAWS said at an emergency city council meeting that it was a precautionary measure. During a press conference the same day, SAWS staff showed a map that revealed far north of San Antonio and far south of San Antonio were the most impacted. SAWS says if your water pressure has been high, you should be fine to not boil your water. It’s recommended to boil water for customers who have been experiencing low pressure levels.

“People were using more water, it appeared. But what we believe is happening is that people are not using that water but more, and more leaks started to show themselves,” said Steve Clouse, SAWS chief operating officer. “We can’t absolutely guarantee that those people in those low pressure are fully disinfected in their water. They probably are, but we can’t guarantee it.”

“Low pressure concerns are being caused in our system because of the numerous leaks of pipes that have burst because of the freezing weather. Our water is still chlorinated. We ourselves have not had any main breaks that could cause potential contaminants to come in,” said Robert Puente, SAWS CEO. “I want to emphasize this is precautionary. This is coming from requirements from TCEQ.”

SAWS sent this full statement when the boil water notice was initially announced:

This has been one of the most challenging winter storm events in San Antonio’s history. San Antonio Water System employees have worked tirelessly to provide and maintain water service.

As we struggle with low pressure and frozen pipes within homes, we believe that it is in the best interest of our customers to issue a "Voluntary Boil Water Notice." This cautionary measure is warranted until the region thaws.

The 100 plus hours of below freezing temperatures have caused us to have issues maintaining above 20 PSI in portions of the distribution system. At this time please take precautions to boil your water until you are notified from SAWS that you do not have too.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but rest assured we are working around the clock to resolve the issues and restore full service to all our customers. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, specifics of a boil water advisory might be given by different communities, but these are some of the agency’s recommendations. People should use bottled or boiled water to drink, cook and brush their teeth. If pets are consuming water, it’s recommended to also use boiled water.

If bottled water is not available, the CDC advises to bring water to a full rolling boil for 1 minute (at elevations above 6,500 feet, boil for 3 minutes), then allow it to cool before using it to cook or consume. The CDC says do not use water from any appliance connected to your water line, such as ice and water from a refrigerator.

If you don’t have electricity, you can generate emergency heat by using a BBQ grill, fire pit, fireplace or camp stove. SAWS says it is planning to give a detailed plan to the city in order to further address the problem. Wednesday night, Mayor Ron Nirenberg tweeted: “Recognizing this boil notice presumes you have power & water, @MySAWS has agreed to work with area partners on a method to get folks water. They will have more news on that soon. H20 quality remains high. This is a precautionary notice, especially if your pressure has changed.”

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