Texas Issues Boil Water Notice to Have a Clean Drinking Water; Residents Complaining of “Third World” Conditions
An aerial view from a drone shows electrical lines running through a neighborhood on February 19, 2021 in Austin, Texas. Amid days of nationwide frigid winter storms in which 58 people died, more than 4 million Texans were without power for much of the past week, with about 13 million Texans being forced to boil tap water in the aftermath of the strain on infrastructure. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The city of Austin in Texas has issued a city-wide boil water notice after Austin Water's Ullrich Walter Treatment Plant is out of service due to an internal treatment process issue.

The boil water notice will last "a couple of days" after officials failed to address the issue after a failure a year ago at the same treatment plant, according to a Fox Business News report.

Novelist Richard Kadrey took to Twitter to express his disappointment over the matter, saying who needs "infrastructure when we have FREEDOM."

A Twitter user with a handle @WeHearPodcast tweeted that as long as Texas stays "Republican-held," one can expect more boil water notice and grid failures.

Meanwhile, Mayor Steve Adler said that the situation will be "over in a couple of days."

He also lauded the city's purchase of water trucks after Winter Storm Uri, which impacted Texas in February 2021.

City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said that it is frustrating to be joining the water distribution due to a failure on behalf of the city of Austin.

Kelly added that she is glad to be given the opportunity to work with intergovernmental partners to help residents of Austin.

"Third World Conditions," Texas Residents Complain

Residential customers are asked to curtail indoor water use as much as possible, adding that all outdoor water use is prohibited until further notice, according to Austin Texas statement.

Austin residents were angered with the boil water notice, finding the situation unacceptable.

They focused on Adler, noting that he appears to prioritize defunding the police instead of ensuring Austin can handle the brief winter storms it experiences year to year.

Save Austin Now co-founder Matt Mackowiak said that city leaders have ignored the real issues the Austin residents face every day.

He noted that this was Texas's third boil water notice in three years.

In February 2021, around 12 million people in Texas had been told to boil water before consuming it after a winter storm had affected the state's power grids.

In addition, over 13 million people have faced some water services disruption at the time, according to a BBC News report.

Some residents labeled the recent situation as a "third world condition."

Twitter user @Thurcules mockingly encouraged people to come to Texas, saying they could stay for "ice storm, grid issues," as well as boil water notice.

Podcaster Jake Flores said that a friend of his in Texas threw up "a bunch of times" from drinking tap water.

Twitter user @badwebsites claimed that Republicans have filled tap water with "pandemic, amoeba & fungi."

Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said that they have no indication that there was a contamination.

He added that the boil water notice is not connected to the winter storm that swept through Central Texas, calling it "coincidental."

Meszaros said that the issue was caused by internal systems and was not connected to river water.

The Austin Water Director said that the company experiences a "turbidity spike," adding that it must consult with regulatory agencies such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

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