Testing Confirms OKC Water Remains Safe After Service Interruption

Oklahoma City officials confirmed Monday morning that after two days of bacteriological testing, the city’s drinking water remained safe and clean during and after Saturday’s temporary service interruption.

A 72-inch water main broke Saturday morning near S.E. 164th Street and Air Depot Boulevard. Many customers across south and central Oklahoma City reported little or no water pressure, with some customers losing water service entirely.

Crews immediately began isolating the break to restore service, and routine, continuous water quality testing never stopped. Other testing procedures began as part of a planned response to water main breaks. The testing indicated clean, safe water at all times, officials said.

Repairs finished late Saturday afternoon, but it took several hours for water pressure throughout the system to return to normal levels. Full service was restored to all customers by Saturday night.

According to officials, a precautionary, voluntary boil advisory was issued for some customers affected by the outage Saturday afternoon. It expired at 10 a.m. Monday.

“Oklahoma City’s water is and always has been safe, and service has been fully restored to everyone affected by the interruption,” Utilities Director Chris Browning said. “Our water is continuously tested every day, and we followed all of our rigorous testing procedures after Saturday’s interruption. All the testing confirms our water meets every safety and quality standard.”

Engineers are still investigating the cause of the break. A permanent repair is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

The high volume of calls to the Utilities Department’s emergency number temporarily caused the phone line to be down. The emergency number and the normal Utilities Customer Service call center are operating normally.