The City of Tampa announced early Wednesday morning that the damaged water pipe that has resulted in a water boil notice for the entire city, and parts of Hillsborough County, has finally been repaired, but the system will require further testing.
“Repairs have been completed on the damaged water main,” said the City of Tampa. “Crews are now working to disinfect the new pipe & finish water quality testing of the system.” Mayor Jane Castor says the water boil notice will remain in effect through today, but will hopefully be lifted at some point on Thursday, or possibly Friday.
In the meantime, the City of Tampa is still distributing free bottled water, and face masks to all residents (no I.D. is required) at four locations:
- Himes Ave. Sports Complex 4501 S. Himes Ave.
- MacFarlane Park 1700 N. MacDill Ave. (near the basketball courts—turn onto Main St. from MacDill Ave)
- Al Barnes Park 2902 N. 32nd St.
- New Tampa Community Center 17302 Commerce Park Blvd.
For those drinking water from their homes, the city instructs that the following steps be taken:
- Bring the water to a rolling boil and hold it there for one minute. Aerate the boiled water by pouring it from one container to another several times to improve the "flat" taste left by boiling, then refrigerate for best results.
- Use bleach if you cannot boil your water. Add eight drops (about 1/8th teaspoon) of bleach for one gallon of tap water, shake, then let stand for 30 minutes before drinking. Use food grade containers and unscented common household bleach that has 5% to 6% active ingredients. If the water is cloudy, use16 drops, about ¼ teaspoon of bleach instead of 8. There should be a slight chlorine odor.
- Use water purification tablets or iodine that many sports and camping stores sell.
You can find out more about water boil notices here.
The City of Tampa first issued the water boil notice on Monday, after a “third-party” hit a transmission main coming from the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility this afternoon. The plant is one of the largest surface water treatment plants in Florida.
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This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2020.