City: Water in affected north Fort Worth area safe to drink again

The water in northwest Fort Worth is safe to drink, city officials said Friday morning.

“Forty-six samples were collected, and the lab results were that all were negative for coliform bacteria,” spokeswoman Mary Gugliuzza said in a statement.

The city received the test results at about 7:30 a.m. Friday.

An estimated 3,500 to 5,000 residents in far northwest Fort Worth had been ordered to boil their drinking water or use bottled water since early Thursday morning.

A drop in pressure after a tank was inadvertently drained Wednesday led to the possibility of contamination.

The impacted area was bordered by Sendera Boulevard on the north, Willow Springs Road on the west, Haslet city limits on the east and Bonds Ranch Road on the south.

Six Northwest Independent School District schools were in the affected area: V.R. Eaton High School, Truett Wilson Middle School, Sonny & Allegra Nance Elementary School, Carl E. Schluter Elementary School, J.C. Thompson Elementary School and Sendera Ranch Elementary School.

Water fountains were turned off at the affected schools before students arrived Thursday.

Free cases of bottled water were available at two distribution centers: Wilson Middle School and Eaton High School.

The city also provided bottled water for students at the six schools affected, a statement from the NISD said. Pepsi, Kroger, Walgreens and iOffice donated cases of bottled water to the school district. Breakfast and lunch were served using prepackaged food, the statement said.

All restaurants in the affected area, as well as food preparation, deli and bakery sections of grocery stores will remain closed until the order is lifted, a statement from the city of Fort Worth says.

The possible contamination occurred when an “operational error” led to draining of an elevated water tank at about 7:30 p.m. on Harmon Road, Gugliuzza said, resulting in a loss of pressure for about 10 minutes.

“When you lose pressure something has the potential to enter the system,” she said. “Not that anything has.”

Pressure returned to normal Thursday, she said, but the boil order was necessary in case contaminants entered the system.

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 7:50 AM with the headline "City: Water in affected north Fort Worth area safe to drink again."