Boil Water Notice issued for Killeen, all cities serviced by WCID

KILLEEN, Texas (May 8, 2022) - The Bell County Water Control and Improvement District #1, which supplies the city's water, has issued a boil water notice effective immediately, May 8, 2022, for all cities it services, including Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Belton, Nolanville and the Fort Hood Military Reservation. This includes all residents and businesses.

WCID says that at about 1p.m. today, all electrical power was lost at the Belton Water Treatment Plan. WCID says this follows a water pressure loss from Saturday, May 7, from a break in a 48-inch transmission main. That break was nearly fully restored when today's outage occurred, but because pressure has been lost throughout the entire system, WCID says they will issue a boil water notice in accordance with TCEQ regulations until further for at least 36 hours.

Once full pressure and disinfectant levels are restored, WCID says their staff will collect bacteriological samples. The necessary e-coli test takes 24 hours to complete. The boil order will be lifted for all parts of the system with passing test results.

A BOIL WATER NOTICE is issued for all City of Killeen residents beginning May 8 at 2:30p.m. Residents at these addresses should boil all water prior to consumption until water sampling results confirm that no contamination occurred. Public notice will be issued through the City of Killeen website KilleenTexas.gov, by news release and the Boil Water Notice Hotline at (254) 501-6515 when the notice is lifted.

TCEQ Required Notice:

Due to conditions caused by water system repair, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required the City of Killeen, PWS 0140006, to notify all City of Killeen customers to boil their water prior to consumption. Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all affected customers should follow these directions. A press release was issued and local news agencies were notified prior to the repair.

To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking and for making ice 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, you may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source. 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 officials 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.

For updates on this order, call 254-501-6515.If you have questions regarding this matter, you may contact the Water and Sewer Services official at 254-501-6319.