Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
More than 200,000 residents of northern Fort Worth, as well as people who live northeast in Keller, Southlake, Roanoke and other cities, were told to boil their water Tuesday morning after power outages affected water treatment plants.
Late Tuesday, Southlake and Keller were also experiencing extremely low water pressure, and residents were told to use bottled water if they couldn’t get any from their taps.
A news release from the city of Keller said water was being delivered back into the system and urged residents to open their faucets to allow air out of the system and help the process go faster.
The Southlake fire chief said in a prepared statement that the city was working hard to reestablish service and would update residents on the city’s website.
The boil water notice could extend through at least late Wednesday, according to a news release from Fort Worth city officials. The city later said that all Fort Worth restaurants located within the affected boundary lines must close.
Also late Tuesday, the Southlake fire chief said water pressure had dropped significantly, leaving the city’s tanks dry. If residents weren’t able to get water from their faucets, they were told to use bottled water for all essential consumption.
Residents who live in an area bounded by River Oaks, Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain Lake to the west, Northside Drive to the south, and the Fort Worth city limits to the east are among those affected.
The boil water notice also applies to nine cities that buy their water from Fort Worth:
- Haslet
- Keller
- Lake Worth
- Northlake
- Roanoke
- Saginaw
- Southlake
- Trophy Club
- Westlake
It was not immediately clear whether the order to close restaurants applies to cities outside Fort Worth.
The city of Benbrook, southwest of Fort Worth, also issued a boil water notice from the Benbrook Water Authority on Tuesday.
Children, elderly people and people with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to harmful bacteria that may be in untreated water, according to the city. All residents should boil and then cool water before “consumption.” This includes water used for drinking, cooking, brushing your teeth and washing your hands and face.
“The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes” before cooling, officials said. The city of Fort Worth will notify residents when the water is safe for consumption.
Power outages at treatment pumping facilities across the public water system went offline Monday due to the rolling blackouts. This week’s record-setting low temperatures also froze important equipment, according to the news release.
“Power was restored to the Eagle Mountain Water Plant, and the raw water pump station Monday night. Crews are working around the clock to defrost equipment to get the plant back in service as soon as possible,” said the release.
An initial boil water notice issued Monday included a smaller portion of the north Fort Worth area, from Eagle Mountain Lake to Keller and north to Haslet, but the city expanded the order overnight to include other cities that buy water from Fort Worth.