RICHARDSON, Texas — The City of Richardson, a suburb north of Dallas, issued a boil water notice, which has led to multiple school closures.
The Richardson Independent School District announced it would close five of its schools on Thursday because of a lack of drinkable water on the campuses.
The schools that were affected by the boil notice were Arapaho Classical Magnet, Dover Elementary, Richardson Heights Elementary, Richardson West Junior High and Richardson High School.
The district said it is in contact with the city officials and will let families know later on Thursday about whether schools will reopen on Friday.
The boil water notice was issued by the City of Richardson because of an equipment malfunction at one of the city’s water towers.
City officials said the Holly Water Tower, which services about 17,000 customers, lost all water pressure because of a malfunction in its telemetry equipment. Because of the malfunction, operators were not notified about the drop in the water level.
The tower’s water pressure was at zero for approximately five minutes before teams identified the issue and restarted the pumps, according to a news release.
The City of Richardson is providing bottled water to impacted residents at the Heights Recreation Center, starting at 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursday and Friday–or until the boil notice is lifted.
City officials say they hope to lift the boil notice sometime on Friday, if the test results from the water samples are cleared.
The City of Richardson posted a list of things to do under a boil notice to make sure your water is safe to drink or use on its website. If you have questions about the boil notice, the city has a 24-hour response center you can call at 972-744-4111.