Lee esta historia en español. The head of Austin’s public water utility has resigned after an employee mistake at a water treatment facility resulted in residents having to boil their water for three days to ensure it was safe to drink. In a letter sent Friday to City Manager Spencer Cronk, Greg Meszaros said after […]
Austin Water Utility
AWU is the municipal utility that provides water service for the City of Austin.
Posted inWater
Don’t worry if you drank the Austin tap water. It was fine all along.
The water flowing out of Austin taps is now safe to drink – and apparently was all along. Austin Water issued a boil-water notice on Saturday night, asking that all customers of the public utility boil their water for at least two minutes before drinking it or cooking with it. A spokesperson for the utility […]
Posted inCity Hall
Alter wants outside audit to address boil-water incidents
Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter wants outside experts to conduct an audit of Austin Water to find out what operational issues and internal processes may have contributed to the city experiencing three boil-water incidents since 2018. On Monday, Alter posted to the City Council Message Board and sent out a newsletter to her district calling […]
Posted inWater
Council members want answers to boil-water incident by end of week
City Council members responsible for monitoring Austin Water service said they expect to receive a complete report by the end of this week explaining the cause behind the boil-water notice that went into effect on Saturday night. The Austin area went through a multi-day period of below-freezing temperatures last week that was less severe than […]
Posted inWater
Austin Water outlines actions for dealing with the next crisis
Since last February’s winter storm, Austin Water has taken numerous steps, both big and small, to prepare for the impact of another such emergency. Director Greg Meszaros told City Council’s Austin Water Oversight Committee last week that, with the help of a working group from the Water and Wastewater Commission, the water utility has prioritized […]
Posted inWater
New water-saving requirements take effect Dec. 1
Starting Dec. 1, eligible new developments in Austin will need to include water-conservation measures. The new requirements are in response to City Council actions and subsequent code amendments adopted in recent months. Once the new terms take effect, developments submitting site plans must include a water benchmarking application, while large developments greater than 250,000 square […]
Posted inAustin
City presents long-awaited follow-up on Winter Storm Uri
As Austin prepares for colder temperatures, a coalition of teams led by the city’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has finalized its after-action report on February’s Winter Storm Uri. Staying well past 10 p.m. last Thursday, City Council ended its meeting with a briefing on the report’s findings. The briefing, which included presentations […]
Posted inPlanning
Council OKs annexation for Bull Creek site
With Council members Alison Alter and Kathie Tovo opposed, City Council on Thursday approved the annexation of a 25-acre site at 11213 FM 620 and ensured the administrative approval of redevelopment of a wastewater lift station close to the headwaters of Bull Creek. While environmentalists worry that allowing service could endanger the Jollyville Plateau salamander, […]
Posted inPlanning
Council delays considering wastewater service in Bull Creek watershed
City Council put off a decision on whether to grant a wastewater service extension request to CWS Capital Partners in the environmentally sensitive Bull Creek Watershed at Thursday’s meeting. The postponement came after Council Member Leslie Pool announced that there was an agreement to put off the matter until July 29, the next Council meeting. […]
Posted inWater
Before Uri, Austin Water didn’t see winter weather as a threat
Austin Water deemed winter weather a low risk to the city’s water supply before Winter Storm Uri, the utility told the Water Oversight Committee on Wednesday. Multiple climate and disaster preparedness plans failed to mention the threat of extreme winter weather, leaving the utility underprepared for the impending crisis. “Unfortunately, in this event, we did […]
Posted inWater
Austin Water responds to ‘demoralizing’ water outages
Austin Water gave a presentation to the Water Oversight Committee on Wednesday detailing the timeline of the water outages last month, preparation for future disasters and upcoming utility bill relief measures. City Council members demanded to know how a substantial portion of Austin residents lost water during the freeze, among other questions about Austin Water’s […]
Posted inAustin
Austin Water has restored service to residents, but broken pipes remain a big issue
Areas of Northwest and Southwest Austin that are still under a boil-water notice could be in the clear by Tuesday afternoon, Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said at a news conference Monday. “We have collected samples in areas yet to be lifted from the boil-water notice,” he said. If samples come back clear, Austin Water […]