Fort Worth issued a water boil notice Feb. 15, and other cities that buy drinking water from the city soon followed, including Keller and Roanoke. The city said that the notice may be in place through Feb. 17 as crews work to defrost and restore power to water treatment pumping facilities.
In the notice, the city said that residents should boil water for at least two minutes to kill harmful bacteria and other microbes and let it cool before using. The city also suggested using bottled water for drinking, brushing teeth or other human consumption as an alternative.
Keller announced Feb. 16 that the city's water system had reached critically low levels and would not be fully replenished until Fort Worth completes water facility repairs. The statement said those repairs are expected but not guaranteed to be finished Feb. 16. The city also asked residents who had saved or purchased water ahead of time to reach out to neighbors and share water if necessary.
Keller announced earlier in the day that the city still had water in its tanks unaffected by the boil notice, but that residents should start boiling water as a precaution. The city expected to have to draw new water from the Fort Worth system starting Feb. 16 but said it would be difficult to anticipate when. Mayor Armin Mizani asked residents in a Feb. 15 email to only use water for essential needs and to avoid showers or baths and running large appliances such as dishwashers.
Roanoke notified residents that the city is included in the boil water notice as well Feb. 16.
The affected area of Fort Worth starts north of Northside Drive and extends east to the city limits and west to the city of River Oaks, Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain Lake. Rolling power outages impacted city water facilities, and some of those facilities froze as temperatures plunged.
Some 212,000 Fort Worth residents are affected, according to the notice, as well as nine other cities: Haslet, Keller, Lake Worth, Northlake, Roanoke, Saginaw, Southlake, Trophy Club and Westlake.
