Fort Worth ‘Scrambling' As Boil Notice Remains in Effect, Some Without Water Completely

A boil water notice in Fort Worth remained in effect Wednesday while millions statewide are without power and some have gone days without water.

Art Blietz of Fort Worth went nearly 40 hours with no water running through his Fort Worth home until about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

“We started getting a trickle of water. Although, there are streets in our neighborhood that do not have water,” Blietz said. “We have a little bit of hot water in the kitchen but nothing in the master bathroom, or the guest bathroom. Our showers don’t work.”

Blietz said for him, the frustration was more on the city’s lack of communication.

“Even if every two or three hours, they communicate and just say they don’t know what’s going on, it would be better,” he said.

In response, Mary Gugliuzza with Fort Worth’s water department told NBC 5 they “probably could have done a lot better.”

“We’re scrambling,” Gugliuzza said. “Our employees are doing the best they can, working the hardest they can whether it’s getting the plants up and running and now keeping them running because the cold weather presents challenges.”

Gugliuzza explained the power outages affected their treatment facilities, which is why the city issued a boil water notice for more than 200,000 residents in north Fort Worth.

“We couldn’t treat water and we couldn’t push water in the distribution system. So, demand exceeded supply. We ran out of water completely in parts of the northern part of the city,” she said. “Water and power are tied in a lot of ways.”

People who are living without right now have little options, Gugliuzza said.

Late Wednesday afternoon, the city announced five distribution sites have opened with limited water availability for residents with no water. Four Fort Worth fire stations are open to distribute water in the impacted area:

• Station 9, 2575 Polaris Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76137
• Station 31, 4209 Longstraw Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76137
• Station 37, 4721 Ray White Road, Keller, TX 76248
• Station 38, 13280 Park Vista Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76248

Residents can also pick up water at this school location:

• Trinity Springs Middle School (Keller ISD), 3350 Keller Hicks Road, Fort Worth, TX 76244

According to a notice from the city, distribution at all sites will begin Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. or until supplies out. Starting Thursday, Feb. 18, distribution will begin at 8 a.m. and will continue as long as supplies last.

As of Wednesday, she said there was no definitive timeline on when the boil water notice could be lifted or when the entire city will have water.