Low water pressure, boil notice for some Manor customers - KXAN.com

Low water pressure, boil notice for some Manor customers | KXAN Austin

MANOR, Texas (KXAN) – A boil water notice was issued Friday morning for some residents in Manor, according to the Cottonwood Creek municipal utility district (MUD).

Officials said a precautionary boil water notice was necessary due to low water pressures. They said the low water pressure is a result of extreme drought conditions and supply issues from the district’s wholesale water provider.

“To ensure the destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making 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,” a Cottonwood Creek Spokesperson said.

Customers also have the option to purchase bottled water instead of boiling their water.

Manor Water Woes

On Thursday night, Alexzandrea Draughon, her husband and their three kids finished dinner. When she went to clean up, she said the faucet flow was reduced to a drop.

“We lost like all the pressure,” Draughon said.

For a couple of weeks leading up to Thursday night, she said the pressure was low until finally, it went out. But before the water pressure issues, for several weeks when her and her neighbors flicked the tap on, brown, odorous water came out.

Eventually, that was fixed, but “almost immediately, boom, pressures out,” she said.

Extreme Drought Conditions

Cottonwood Creek Customers are not the only ones dealing with water issues as a result of drought conditions. In recent weeks, several areas around Central Texas have issued boil water notices. Further, Dripping Springs announced Thursday they entered Stage 5 water restriction, meaning water is restricted to emergency water use only.

Shannon Hamilton of the Central Texas Water Coalition said that these restrictions may be a new normal.

“We are in a very scary time right now,” Hamilton said. “We are fighting for every drop that we have. We need everybody to really think about conserving. It is your drinking water, but you’re also thinking about giving firefighters a chance to be able to fight fires for us. And if they don’t have water pressure, then we really could be in a bad situation.”

Hamilton said a key to water conservation is reducing water used for landscaping. She said it is paramount for Central Texans to only water lawns once a week if permitted.

“Our lawns will come back – it will hopefully be okay. And we do know one day it’s going to rain. We just don’t know when,” Hamilton said. “We have to all conserve together.”