Dear Neighbors,

I wanted to provide an evening update on the boil water situation. 

The City Manager told me that the failure to maintain normal water service was due to personnel at the Ullrich water plant failing to follow required protocols and warnings. I can assure you that my colleagues and I on the City Council will get more details and take appropriate action beginning this week.

There is some good news. Ullrich Plant is now fully operational again. It went out of service because of higher turbidity levels caused by the above personnel issue. 

It will now take approximately 48 hours to lift the water boil notice because the regulatory agency, TCEQ, requires sampling and testing in that time frame. 

This is all I know about the water failure. I have spent the day following up with all of the appropriate city officials. I will continue to do this and I will share detailed information with you. My priority is to restore normal water service and then make sure this does not happen again. 

Water distribution will continue tomorrow. The City is focused on delivering bottled water to the most vulnerable and you can find updated details on locations at Active Emergency Information Hub | AustinTexas.gov. If you are or know a homebound individual, please call 311 and request a water delivery. 

Please see the 5 PM news conference video here. 

Regards, 

Alison Alter

Mayor Pro Tem

City Council Member, District 10