Parts of Fort Worth’s Northside neighborhood and an area near Lake Worth are under a boil water notice following a break in a 24-inch water main at Rosen Avenue and NW 28th Street in Fort Worth.
The break led to a drop in water pressure that measured below standards set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, leading officials to issue the notice as a precaution. Low water pressure can allow harmful bacteria to enter the water system.
Children, older adults and individuals who have weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to bacteria — but all residents of the impacted areas are advised to follow the notice.
To kill potential bacteria, residents in the affected areas should bring water to a rolling boil and continue to boil it for at least two minutes before using it for purposes such as washing hands, cooking, drinking, brushing teeth or making ice.
An alternative option is to use bottled water, which the city will distribute to residents at North Tri-Ethnic Center, 2950 Roosevelt Ave. in Fort Worth until 10 p.m. today and again beginning at 6 a.m. tomorrow. Only one case of water will be distributed per car.
The boil water notice will be lifted when the city determines the water is safe to drink after testing samples from within the affected areas. The test takes 24 hours to run. The city of Fort Worth will issue a new notice when the boil is lifted.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
McKinnon Rice is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Her position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
