DPW Announces Partial Lift of Boil Water Advisory; Required Boil Water Advisory Remains in Effect for a Portion of West Baltimore

BALTIMORE, MD. (Wednesday, September 7, 2022) — The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) has lifted the Precautionary Boil Water Advisory immediately for a portion of Baltimore City and the area of concern in Baltimore County. There were several rounds of water quality tests performed by DPW in the areas covered by the Precautionary Boil Water Advisory and all results confirmed that the water is safe to consume. It should be noted that the “Precautionary” area for which the advisory is being lifted did not have any positive bacteria results but was necessary to ensure public health protection.

The Precautionary Boil Water Advisory has been lifted for the following boundaries:

• The area south and southwest of Route 40, including the original Precautionary area in Baltimore County (See map below)

The Required Boil Water Advisory remains in effect for the following boundaries:

• West Baltimore: North and South Riggs Avenue to West Franklin Street and East and West Carey Street to Pulaski Avenue

The reason there is partial lifting and not a full lifting is that DPW is awaiting analytical data from the laboratory to confirm that there is no E. coli and Total Coliform in the samples taken within the Required Boil Water Advisory and remaining Precautionary area.

Residents should take the following steps after the lifting of a boil water advisory:

• Run all cold water taps for fifteen (15) minutes.
• If you have a single-lever faucet, set it to run cold water.
• Begin with the lowest faucet in your home or business and then open the other faucets one at a time, moving from your lowest floor to your highest.
• After fifteen (15) minutes, turn off your faucets in reverse order, from highest to lowest.
• You should also flush your refrigerator's water lines.
• All ice made since the boil water advisory was put in place should be discarded, as well as the next three batches.
• Ice maker containers should be wiped clean with a solution of two tablespoons bleach to one gallon of water.
• Apartment buildings and multi-story buildings should notify all residents, occupants and users of this procedure and flush starting the closest tap to the water connection moving outward.

Residents and facilities that remain under the Required and Precautionary Boil Water Advisory should continue to boil water for one (1) minute before consuming or use bottled water. For more information on Boil Water Advisory Precautions, please visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Boil Water Advisory webpage.

Also, please see DPW’s Interactive Map detailing the boundaries.

Note: The three water distribution areas established by the Office of Emergency Management will remain open until further notice.

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