City of Alamo Under Brief Boil Water Advisory Last Week

The City of Alamo was briefly under a boil water advisory last week after routine testing by the Environmental Protection Division detected E. coli in source water from a well located at the Wheeler County Correctional Facility. The correctional facility is served by the City of Alamo water system The advisory was issued on Thursday, August 10, “out of an abundance of caution,” after the contamination was discovered. A public notification circulated to residents via a telephone call-out and the City’s Facebook page, noted that while the contamination had been found in Well 102, “other samples collected in the distribution system showed that no bacteria were present.” Well 102 was taken offline for immediate sanitization. Once the well was sanitized, special samples were collected to ensure that no bacteria were present.

For 24 hours, city residents were advised to boil water before using for drinking, making ice, or other activities in which water may be consumed, such as brushing teeth. Because of the emergency, the Wheeler County Schools were cancelled on Friday. The issue was resolved citywide by Saturday morning.

Alamo City Manager Jeff Floyd said the emergency was short-lived and quickly rectified. “The EPD checks our water every day, so residents can be assured that any issues that might arise will be quickly addressed.”