The city of Richardson issued a boil water notice Wednesday evening following a drop in water pressure at one of its plants, prompting five Richardson ISD schools that are in the area served by the facility to cancel Thursday classes.
According to a post on the city’s website, the city’s Holly Water Tower — located between Mimosa Drive and Dogwood Drive in Richardson’s 767 water distribution zone — lost all water pressure earlier in the day after experiencing an equipment malfunction. The facility was at zero pressure for about five minutes before workers addressed the issue, city officials said in the online notice.
About 17,000 customers in the northwest portion of the city are directly affected by the incident, the post states. The city urged those impacted to boil their water prior to using it, including before drinking, cooking, washing their hands or brushing their teeth.
Richardson ISD announced five schools will be closed on Thursday “due to the lack of drinkable water and for safety and sanitary reasons.”
Those campuses are:
- Arapaho Classical Magnet.
- Dover Elementary.
- Richardson Heights Elementary.
- Richardson West Jr. High.
- Richardson High School.
Businesses can continue operations as long as “they follow proper guidelines to disinfect water and ensure it is safe for human consumption,” the city’s notice says.
The city is providing bottled water to residents and businesses affected by the equipment malfunction.
The city said water will be available for pick up at Heights Recreation Center as long as the boil water notice is in effect. Pick up times are from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.
The city post said officials have “hopes to be able to lift the boil water notice” by Friday after a period of gathering and testing water samples. Residents will be notified once water is safe for consumption.
