Early Routine Testing Prevents Bacteria from Entering Northside Drinking System

During standard water quality sampling, a raw, untreated water sample from a well indicated the presence of E. coli bacteria. The well is located at 6912 West Ave. near NW Military Dr. It is part of the former BexarMet system.

SAWS shut down the well immediately based on the test result and will inspect, disinfect and retest before this well is put back into use.

  • To ensure customer safety, SAWS constantly tests water from around the system.
  • Raw, or untreated water, is water from a well before disinfection, and before entering the system providing water to customers. All raw or untreated water is disinfected before entering the distribution system as finished water for customers.
  • All drinking water test samples taken from SAWS water system for December and January to date have been cleared of any evidence of E. coli.

“We are constantly testing all our water to ensure it is high quality. Finding this result and responding to it demonstrates the safeguards in SAWS system are working the way they should, to ensure safe drinking water is flowing to your home,” said Donovan Burton, VP Water Resources & Governmental Relations.

Please note this is NOT a Boil Water notice. You do not need to take additional measures prior to consumption. Under the Groundwater Rule established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality long ago, SAWS is required to provide public notice if a water well tests positive for E. coli or fecal bacteria.

See TCEQ Notice below for more details.

Download TCEQ Notice
test!