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Why did Houston issue 'boil water' notice? Angry residents slam officials for taking '8 hours' to inform public

'Everyone should boil the water before drinking, cooking, bathing, and brushing their teeth,' said the City of Houston in their tweet

HOUSTON, TEXAS: A boil water notice has been issued for the City of Houston affecting 2.3 million people. The notice was issued on Sunday evening, November 27, after the water pressure at a purification plant dropped below acceptable levels resulting in contaminated water. Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to deploy necessary resources to tackle the situation. 

A power outage at the East Water Purification Plant on Sunday morning was the root of the problem and the city officials have advised the citizens to boil all water used for food drinking, brushing their teeth, and more. City of Houston tweeted, "A boil water notice has been issued for the City of Houston Everyone should boil the water before drinking, cooking, bathing, and brushing their teeth." Following this announcement, Houston ISD responded, "Due to the Boil Water Notice issued by the City of Houston late this evening, all Houston ISD schools, offices, and facilities will be closed Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. #HISD will closely monitor the situation and provide additional updates regarding operations tomorrow."

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Governor Abbott responded to the situation immediately and stated in an official statement, "The State of Texas is immediately responding and deploying support to Houston as they work to get a safe supply of water back online. We have been in contact with Mayor Turner to offer the full support of the state, and we're currently working to fulfill the city's request for help with rapid turnaround of water sample results. I thank TDEM and TCEQ for swiftly responding to help address this issue. We urge those that the boil water notice affects to continue heeding the guidance of local officials and take adequate precautions when boiling and using water. Together, we will ensure our fellow Texans are supported while the city's water supply returns."

Angry citizens slam officials after 'Boil Water' notice issued in Houston

One angry user tweeted, "How disgusting that the city has not fixed its system to isolate problems. This happened with a leak on the east side 3-4 yrs ago. NO WAY to just cut the problem area off - 3rd world county/city. You both shld be fired/recalled @SylvesterTurner @LinaHidalgoTX @HarrisCoJudge" Another user wrote, "The pressure went way down today at about 1130 this morning. Why did it take 8 hours to issue this warning? I've been drinking water all day! I think the delay placed a lot of us at risk of getting sick. What the heck??? WHY?"

One user wrote, "There should be some sort of alert system, similar to the Amber Alert, for these types of issues. This is a potentially significant public health issue." Another user tweeted, "@SylvesterTurner This is due to a power outage, correct? Why does the impacted facility not have enough generators, solar panels, batteries, etc to run the purification equipment to keep up the water pressure? Y’all have had more than enough time since Feb ‘21."

One user said, "Can you please tell us WHY this is happening? We had very low water pressure this morning north of DT so something was obviously happening. That was 12 HOURS AGO!" Another user tweeted, "Why did the city wait so long to inform the public?? Someone posted that there’s possible cholera infections reported. Be safe. Boil the water people."

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