Pittsburgh, PA - Today, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) has lifted the boil water advisory for four of the areas impacted by Sunday’s power outage. These include:
- Areas 1 and 2: portions of Morningside and Stanton Heights
- Area 8: portions of Point Breeze
- Area 10: portions of Swisshelm Park
If you have been impacted by this advisory, please use our interactive map to confirm that you can resume normal water use or will still need to follow the advisory.
Red lined areas no longer need to boil water. Those in green areas are asked to continue to boil their water.
Why is PWSA lifting the advisory in these neighborhoods?
In these four areas, PWSA completed two 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 in these four areas are no longer advised to boil tap water before consumption. The PWSA recommends that customers using their water for the first time in two days 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.
When will PWSA lift the advisory for the remaining six neighborhoods?
PWSA will lift the advisory in the remaining six areas when we complete two rounds of water quality testing and the results show no evidence of contamination. Water quality testing is in progress and all samples have been provided to the lab for testing. When PWSA confirms that the tests are negative, we will lift the advisory.
Why were the required samples not taken at the same time?
When an advisory is in place, PWSA must conduct two rounds of testing within a 48-hour period to confirm adequate disinfectant levels and verify that the water is safe to drink. After two consecutive rounds of testing show satisfactory results, the advisory can be lifted.
PWSA began gathering samples on Sunday after the advisory was put into place. We were able to gather the first round of required samples from the four areas being lifted today. In the remaining areas, we could not obtain all samples until Monday. This was due to the logistics of having to obtain the required 29 samples for this advisory and availability of sites to obtain the necessary water samples.
During a boil water advisory, we rely on residents and businesses within the impacted area to provide our chemists with permission to take a water sample from their property. If you should receive such a request from our team, we ask that you please let them into your property so they can obtain a sample. With everyone doing their part, this process can go more quickly.
The advisory was issued in an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of our water and customers. We recognize that this is a tremendous inconvenience and greatly appreciate everyone’s support and cooperation.
Next Steps
For the remaining six areas, PWSA will lift the advisory as soon as possible and will notify the public via a press release and robocalls and posting to social media. Information about the boil water advisory is available at www.pgh2o.com/boilwater.
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 www.pgh2o.com/update-contact-info
