(Seguin) — A seemingly abrupt notice to boil water from Springs Hill Water Supply Corporation has left the Navarro ISD scrambling to make sure it has water available, for students and staff, that is safe to drink.
The district sent a note out to parents last night. It says that the district was not originally notified about a boil water notice from Springs Hill.
“After finally receiving some communication, the district notified all campuses about the boil water notice,” said a statement posted to the district’s Facebook page.
District officials say they are making arrangements for limited bottled water at each campus for students and staff today.
The district’s cafeterias will boil water for both breakfast and lunch today. Navarro ISD parents are being encouraged to send their child in with a bottle of water or two.
There’s been growing frustration and confusion, from Springs Hill customers, about whether or not water customers need to boil their water before consuming.
Springs Hill originally stated that only customers in the Hickory Forest areas needed to boil water. But later a notice was placed on its website that said that system users needed to boil.
Springs Hill Interim General Manager Kathy Bryant confirmed to KWED that the only area that needed to boil the water first was the Hickory Forest area in the Sandhills. But yesterday, things apparently changed — at least for the water that was being pumped into the Navarro ISD’s schools.
The water provider’s website still has the boil water notice as the first thing you see when you log onto its webpage.
The message yesterday from Bryant was slightly different.
“Springs Hill Water Supply customers can continue to boil their water for 2 minutes for peace of mind as the system continues to recover,” said Bryant in an email to KWED.
Springs Hill and water providers, like the Crystal Clear and Green Valley special utility districts all had boil water notices issued last week because of the challenges related to lack week’s winter storm. NBU in New Braunfels also had a similar boil order. City of Seguin water customers did not lose service and did not have to boil water, but that’s not to suggest that people who live in Seguin are free from boiling water. They may need to boil if they get their water from Springs Hill or one of the other providers. The city of Seguin is its own utility provider, but it has hundreds of residents who get power and water from other utility providers.
The impact of water woes has been great, and many of the smaller water providers continue to recover. Most water outages have been restored, but the boil water confusion is just the latest headache for water customers in the area.
So what’s the answer to the “boil water” question for those providers other than the city of Seguin? It’s likely best that people boil their water in those impacted systems until they get an official all clear sign from their provider.