Boil Advisory In Effect For OKC Residents Impacted By Water Issues

Some residents across Oklahoma are still dealing with water issues at their homes.

Thursday night the city of Oklahoma City said that it recommends some residents voluntarily boil their water if they had service interrupted this week.

Read Related: City Of OKC Issues 'Voluntary' Boil Advisory For Some Residents

On Thursday, the city's utility department said that in the city of Oklahoma they have responded to 19 water main breaks and hundreds of service calls to service calls at private lines.

Another issue is that current water demand has skyrocketed. The city says they are making progress, but it may be a few days before conditions improve.

News 9 spoke with Chris Brierly the owner of Roto-Rooter plumbing about what people can do in the coming days. Unfortunately, he says most of the damage is done and as things warm up it may reveal bursts and other problems. But he also said to check with neighbors and make sure the issue you are having isn’t related to city issues before you call someone out.

“It is probably not your home it may be the area so that would be the first thing I would do to double-check instead of calling a plumber to fix a problem that may not be there,” says Brierly

He also says we are seeing a large number of issues because the state's infrastructure simply wasn’t built for a weather scenario like this.

“This is out of the ordinary and just because you are having a problem does not mean there is an issue with your home.” 

And for those that do have issues, Roto-Rooter says they do now have full staff back up to take calls and fix any issues.

As for the boil advisory, The city says this is for people who lost water service for a bit.

“We just decided after working with the DEQ and city leadership that out of an abundance of caution this was in the best interest of our customers,” says Jennifer Mcclintok with the city.

The DEQ recommends boiling water for one minute and then allowing it to cool down to room temperature. Anyone with skin wounds or other conditions should avoid bathing in the water unless they consult with a physician first.

Another reported issue has been discolored water.

“Usually that discoloration is caused by either some sediment or minerals that have built up inside the lines that were dry and then water comes through when they turn the lines back on and it just pushes a little sediment,” says Mcclintok.

The city says to let that water run until it is clear.