Houston lifts boil water notice, confirms tap water is safe to drink

Key Facts

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality conducted water quality tests while the notice was still in effect, and confirmed that tap water meets regulatory standards, the city of Houston said in a news release.
Before returning to normal use, Houston Water customers should first "flush" their home water systems by running faucets on cold for at least one minute, and making and discarding several batches of ice from their automatic ice machines to trigger water treatment softeners through a regeneration cycle, according to the city.
All of Houston's public schools will remain closed for a second day Tuesday, after millions of residents were advised to boil their drinking water in the aftermath of a power outage at one of the city's purification plants.
Late on Sunday night, Mayor Turner said that city officials believed the water was safe to use, but regulatory requirements mandate that a boil water notice remains in effect until the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has completed repeat testing on water samples, and confirmed they are not contaminated.