A water-pressure problem in the Ventana neighborhood of southwest Fort Worth has led the city to issue a boil-water notice because bacteria may have entered the water system.
Here's what to know
According to Fox 4 News, the notice followed a drop in Ventana water pressure below the minimum required by state regulations. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires people in the affected area to boil water before consuming or using it.
City officials said residents should use boiled water not only for drinking, but also for cooking, brushing teeth, and washing hands and face until the notice is lifted.
Fort Worth has an interactive map on its website that lets customers search by address to see whether they are inside the impacted zone. The city also said the pressure drop does not affect Benbrook or the Benbrook Water Authority.
There is no exact timeline yet for when the notice will end. Fort Worth said it must first take bacteriological samples in the affected area and receive the results before declaring the water safe again, a process that takes 24 hours.
More background
Boil water notices are used as a public-health precaution when low pressure leaves a water system more exposed to contamination. In Ventana, Fort Worth said the pressure loss may have created an opening for bacterial contamination, as Fox 4 News reported.
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Officials said children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to those bacteria.
Rather than issuing a citywide notice, Fort Worth is using an address-search map to identify the affected neighborhood, and its note about Benbrook suggests nearby water systems are operating separately.
Even if water pressure returns quickly, residents still cannot resume normal use until lab testing is complete and the city issues a formal rescission notice.
What can be done?
Per Fox 4 News, residents in the affected area should boil water before using it for drinking, food preparation, brushing teeth, or washing hands and face. Because the order applies to Ventana and not all of Fort Worth, people can use the city's interactive address map to confirm whether their home is included.
According to Fox 4 News, the city has also opened a bottled water distribution site at Ventana Parkway and Barco Road for affected customers.
Each car is limited to one case of water.
Pickup was scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and again from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Another distribution window was also planned for Friday, Oct. 16, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
As Fox 4 News reported, Fort Worth will collect bacteriological samples in the area and send a rescission notice once the water is confirmed safe to consume. The city said the notice will stay in place until Ventana-area samples come back clear, and that testing takes about 24 hours.
Where can I learn more?
These articles cover other drinking-water warnings and contamination threats. They range from water shortages in Texas to contamination fears near Atlanta and broader alarms about PFAS in tap water.
• In Corpus Christi, officials warned that a deepening water crisis could foreshadow future shortages.
• Near Atlanta's airport, residents were told not to drink tap water after contamination fears.
• Officials said highly toxic chemicals discovered in drinking water demanded urgent action.
• An EPA report warned that drinking water of millions contained dangerous forever chemicals.
• Across multiple states, officials moved to take action on water protections as concerns grew.
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