MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Light, Gas and Water has lifted the boil water advisory for MLGW customers.
MLGW President JT Young made the announcement Thursday afternoon.
“Effective immediately, the precautionary boil water advisory has been lifted. Our folks have been working very diligently over the past several days,” Young said.
MLGW says their system is finally reporting adequate water pressure, and between local labs and tests run by the state, Memphis water has shown no contaminants.
MLGW is still asking customers to conserve water until 10 a.m. Friday morning. Young says customers can go back to their regular water usage after Friday morning.
“We’d like to get through the peak that we expect to see in the morning,” Young said.
Nick Newman, MLGW vice president of engineering and operations, advised that customers flush their systems by letting their cold water faucets run for around two minutes.
He says naturally-occurring iron in the water may cause the water to look brown or red, but the water will clear after running for a couple of minutes.
“We’re essentially flushing our system, kinda like you do with your faucet in your house. We just have a lot bigger faucet,” Newman said.
MLGW says there are still some pumps that are going through issues, although the system as a whole is working. They ask customers to continue to reach out as they address remaining problems.
Young says customers do not need to call about a leak adjustment in their bill. Young says MLGW will be implementing an automatic adjustment based on the extenuating circumstances.
“We know there’s enough going on, customers have enough to deal with, so we want to try and make this as easy as possible. Just give us a little time to make that happen,” Young said.
Jerica Phillips with Shelby County Schools says the water pressure is stable at all SCS buildings and employees will be able to return to the buildings. She says SCS is still on track to reopen schools for in-person learning on March 1.
Phillips says a few schools will remain closed and that SCS officials are in direct communication with MLGW regarding those schools.
Phillips says sinks will be usable but some water fountains will remain closed. She says SCS will be providing bottled water for staff and students in schools.
