Just under a week after Austin leaders issued a boil-water notice that sent residents into an uncertain limbo that edged on panic before settling into mild irritation, Austin Water officials on Sunday gave the green light to drinking water straight from the tap.

Customers no longer need to boil water before drinking it, cooking with it or making ice from it. Residents also don't need to flush the pipes in their homes, the water utility said.

"Water has continued to circulate in the distribution system during the boil-water notice," the utility said on its website. "Water used for laundry, showering, or boiling for consumption has created enough flushing effect for most homes. There should be no need to flush water from hot water heaters, irrigation systems, showers, clothes washing machines or outdoor faucets."

Austin Water still recommends "drawing and discarding at least one quart of water from your refrigerator water dispenser before drinking."

"Automatic ice makers should be emptied of any ice created during the boil water order; allow the machine to make new ice and discard any ice produced during the next 24 hours," the utility said.

According to city officials, the water treatment system restored water quality enough for human consumption, and Austin Water provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that show the water no longer requires boiling.

The TCEQ allowed these municipal Austin Water customers to lift their boil rules: Rollingwood, Sunset Valley, Creedmoor Maha WSC, High Valley WSC, Marsha WSC, Mid-Tex Utility, Morningside Subdivision, Nighthawk WSC, Northtown MUD, North Austin MUD, Rivercrest Water System, Travis County WCID No. 10 and Wells Branch MUD.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler, City Manager Spencer Cronk and Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros touted the end of the Austin boil-water notice in front of City Hall on Sunday with glasses of tap water in hand.

“This was a big event, and we handled it well,” Adler said.

The city advised residents to save water instead of unnecessarily flushing water lines, “but if it makes you feel better, of course you can,” Adler said.

Restaurants, on the other hand, are encouraged to flush their lines for two to three minutes, discard ice produced under the boil water notice, and flush soda dispensers.

Outdoor water use, such as irrigating lawns, washing cars or filling swimming pools, will continue to be prohibited for the next couple of days as the city’s water system regains its full capacity. City officials gave no precise date by which they expect to lift the ban on outdoor water use.

“We’re not expecting any problems, but just want people to be mindful of the need to manage their water use as we’re coming back up to full speed,” Meszaros said.

The city water utility will begin “taking a hard look” at the central causes of the last week’s water quality concerns to better adapt its systems for emergencies.

“Everything worked the way it was supposed to work in response to this situation. I haven’t heard of anyone getting sick,” Adler said.

Austin Water issued the boil water notice in the wee hours of Oct. 22 and later imposed emergency conservation restrictions after water treatment operations became overwhelmed by unprecedented amounts of dirt, silt, and debris that washed into the Highland Lakes from the Llano River basin after heavy rains, the city said.

The water quality alert, released in the wee hours of the morning, left many residents wondering how to bathe, brush their teeth and make breakfast without using tap water, and sent many others scrambling to grocery stores for bottled water, which quickly sold out.

Meszaros had said on Friday that the utility’s water treatment plants were pumping out clean water at higher and higher rates, but that it could still be another week before the system is running at full capacity.

Meszaros said officials are still asking people to conserve as much water as possible until then.

“As we get throng this immediate crisis, as we clean up our systems and do repairs and check the system, in the weeks and months ahead we’ll be doing very detailed after-action review and analysis of what happened and what our recommendations will be to improve the resiliency of our system, so that the next time an event like this were to happen, that we would be better prepared and better able to weather through it,” he said.

While Austin was under the boil-water notice, the city established seven bottled-water distribution sites across town that handed out a total of 271,652 cases of water, or 625,608 gallons, over four days.