boil notice lifted

City of Houston lifts boil water notice and advises residents on next steps

Houstonians no longer have to boil their water.

Photo by Aidan McManus

Houstonians no longer need to boil water for drinking, cooking, and making ice as the City of Houston lifted its boil water notice on Sunday, February 21.

The order had been in place since Wednesday, February 17 as temperatures plummeted, pipes froze, and water was widely shut off due to the winter storm.

What’s next? Customers should:

Flush water system by running cold-water faucets for at least one minute
Clean automatic ice makers by making and discarding several batches of ice
Run water softeners through a regeneration cycle

Houston Water has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes, according to a press release. The City has also provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use.

Meanwhile, CultureMap and news partner ABC13 compiled of areas that have rescinded the boil notice as of Sunday.

Greater Houston
Baytown
Bellaire
Jersey Village
Katy
La Marque
League City
Livingston
Pearland
Webster
Deer Park
Sugar Land
Texas City

Galveston also lifted its boil notice as of late Sunday afternoon, per a city announcement. The City of Pasadena noted the boil water notice is still in effect for that area, and is waiting approval from TCEQ to rescind the advisory, ABC13 reports.

If your area is not listed above, ABC13 notes that customers can check the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s list of utilities that have rescinded boil notices.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”