Boil water notice issued for all Laredo homes, businesses

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Laredo public water system to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Laredo public water system to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption Photo: Mike Kemp/Getty Images/Blend Images Photo: Mike Kemp/Getty Images/Blend Images Image 1 of / 86 Caption Close Boil water notice issued for all Laredo homes, businesses 1 / 86 Back to Gallery

Due to failure to maintain acceptable disinfection (Total Chlorine) residuals within the distribution system, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Laredo / PWS ID # 2400001 public water system to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions).

To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.

In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, the public water system officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, the public water system will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

If you have questions concerning this matter you may contact Juan Rios, Water Pollution Control, at (956) 721-2056 or the Utilities Main Office at (956) 721-2000, located at 5816 Daugherty Ave, Laredo, Texas 78044.

The City of Laredo wants to assure the public that we are systematically testing and retesting to assure we have adequate levels of chlorine for safe drinking water and have not detected any bacteria in these tests. For any health information please call Health Department at (956) 795-2922.

Beginning Monday, September 30, 2019 at 12:00 PM the City of Laredo water treatment plants will convert from chloramines disinfection to free chlorine disinfection for a period of 14 days.