Pittsburgh, PA - Today, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) has lifted the boil water advisory issued on Friday, March 24th for East End neighborhoods including portions of:
- Central Lawrenceville
- East Liberty
- Garfield
- Highland Park
- Morningside
- Stanton Heights
- Upper Lawrenceville
- All customers impacted by the advisory can resume normal use of water. PWSA is responsible for the safe treatment and distribution of drinking water to Pittsburgh residents within our service area. As this is our first priority, the advisory was put into place to assure the safety of your drinking water and to protect public health. Now that all state regulatory requirements have been met, we can safely lift the advisory.
PWSA completed two consecutive rounds of water quality testing that did not show any evidence of microbial contamination. The water in these impacted areas is safe to drink.
Customers are no longer advised to boil tap water before consumption. The PWSA recommends that customers using their water for the first time since Friday run their taps for at least one minute before using it for cooking or drinking. This helps remove stagnant water from plumbing and brings in fresh water from water mains.
Our interactive map is available for those who wish to verify that their location has been lifted from the boil water advisory.
What is the process for lifting a boil water advisory?
Green indicates the area affected by the flush and boil water advisory.
On Friday, March 24th, PWSA experienced a break on a 20-inch water main which caused the Garfield Tank system to lose pressure in high-elevation portions areas of the East End. PWSA issued a boil water advisory, a state regulatory requirement to ensure drinking water safety, proactively so that when water service was fully restored, customers would immediately begin to boil their water for consumption. After the Garfield Tank was completely refilled, the water quality team could begin sampling to ensure water was safe to drink.
PWSA tests for Total Coliform, which is a group of bacteria known as an indicator of microbial contamination. After we’ve obtained the required samples, they are sent to the lab. The incubation is 24 hours for each required sample. These samples are collected, prepared, analyzed, and reported by PWSA employees. The water quality team must ensure that all samples meet PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) standards and makes all efforts to lift the advisory in a reasonable time while still strictly following regulations.
The advisory was issued to ensure the safety of our water and customers. We recognize that this is an inconvenience and greatly appreciate everyone’s support and cooperation.
Customers are encouraged to take simple precautionary steps to minimize disruptions at home by keeping several days of bottled water on hand and making sure we have your updated emergency contact information. To provide us with a good phone number to reach out for outages, project info, and emergency notices, visit www.pgh2o.com/update-contact-info.
