HEATH, Texas — The city of Heath in Rockwall County says the boil water notice issued on Thursday has been lifted after water samples were tested by the state and deemed safe for consumption.
In a news release, the city said residents should take the following steps to flush their systems:
- Run cold water faucets for at least five minutes
- Flush water coolers with at least one quart of water
- Replace water filters, as they may be contaminated
- Check and clean appliances
- Discard any ice made during the boil water notice
- Clean and sanitize ice makers and water dispensers
- Turn on hot water heaters and let the water run until hot
City manager Kevin Lasher said the problem occurred overnight on Thursday. Lasher said there was a failure with the system caused by a computer malfunction. The system helps monitor water volumes in the city's water towers.
"This system is 35 years old," said Lasher. "We're going to replace it." Lasher said the city is growing rapidly and the infrastructure needs to match that speed.
He said 10,400 people live in the city of Heath, and they use about 6 million gallons of water a day. The city is estimated to hold roughly 21,000 said Lasher. If and when it gets to that point, they will need about 9.7 million gallons of water a day.
"It's extremely frustrating because water has been an issue," said Lasher.
But the order is already slowing down businesses in the city. At Milano's Restaurant on Thursday, they had to close their salad bar and couldn't serve fountain drinks.
Owner of the shop Ali Zaza said they had to turn away several people. "We use everything from water," he said. "No fountain drinks, no salad bar, but we still can make the sauce we just have to boil the water." Moving forward Zara said the restaurant will use bottled water until the order is lifted.
City staff is working to manually refill water tanks and fix the computer glitch. "The boil ban could last through Monday, but if we can lift it sooner than that, if it's safe to lit it sooner than that, then we will," the city said.
This isn't the first time the city of Heath has struggled with its water supply. In 2023, the city was short on water and asked residents to restrict their usage for several days. The city put a moratorium on new development following the water shortage.
This is a developing story WFAA will provide updates as soon as they become available.