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8/28/2026
WT Staff
 Got water questions? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email us at info@wtny.us
Aug 28, 2026 110 pm EDT
Water main breaks, microbiological contamination and public notice: When its time to boil water, how can we be sure everyone gets the message?
Continually scanning the news wires for boil water advisories (BWA's), we have tripped on a concerning trend. More often than not, water utilities are relying on social media platforms for delivery of critical public messaging about drinking water safety.
A recent BWA notice given on a popular, private social media website indicated the end of a boil order for a Georgia town. A resident from the affected area commented with grave concern, I see the rescission notice, however entirely missed the boil order in the first place. This is not the first time the BWA notice has been missed, and that should make us stop and think.
Toledo Water Crisis, 2014
In the wee hours of Saturday, Aug 2, an emergency alert was issued for half a million Americans in Ohio and Michigan. Local news outlets pushed short messages to subscribers, gave live coverage to supplement the emergency alert. Social media websites enhanced public notice, helping to spread the word that the water was not safe to touch, let alone drink, and boiling the water would only make matters worse.
A common freshwater contaminant, toxin from Lake Erie's resident bluegreen algae bloom had infiltrated the raw water intake pipe of the Toledo water treatment system, contaminating the lines, filters and pumps as it poisoned the water itself. Unlike microbiological contamination, cyanotoxins can make humans very ill and kill animals, by ingestion or absorption. The challenge in such a crisis, is to reach and warn everyone in harm's way, in time.
The missed BWA that became deadly
In May 2000, half the population of Walkerton, ON fell ill with severe gastrointestinal symptoms. An emergency room doctor made the call for tap water to be checked as a potential source of the outbreak. By the time a public safety message was released about certain microbiological contamination in the town's drinking water, it was far too late. Seven people died from drinking the contaminated water.
Judge Dennis O'Connor led the public inquiry that followed. Justice O'Connor examined the series of events leading to the fouling of the town water supply, the silence from the water treatment plant and the outbreak of illness over days and weeks following. The inquiry exposed the source of contamination, along with the role and liability of the water plant operators. The Town staff were found liable for failing to maintain water quality to the standard, failing to monitor and keep records and failing to issue public notice, the boil water advisory. The inquiry examined the role of public utilities commissioners, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the provincial government in ensuring public advisories are delivered to all users on a timely basis.
The tragedy at Walkerton pushed Canadian provinces and territories to assess, monitor and disclose DWA's with transparency. According to the editor at WaterToday Canada, "Daily reporting by provinces gradually got better and is now punctual and comprehensive."
Any event that causes water pressure to fall below a minimum threshold can lead to microbiological contamination of the treated drinking water. Storms, power outages, leaks and line ruptures happen in all locations, at all hours, without warning, prompting the need for a pre-cautionary BWA until the water can be tested and determined safe. Not all provinces and territories report these infrastructure and operating incidents, or the precautionary BWA's that follow. In most cases, infrastructure issues prompting BWAs are the responsibility of the water plant operator or municipality, to inform the local connections impacted.
See an In-Depth Analysis of 400,000 miles of water mains in the US and Canada, Utah State University (USU) report on water infrastructure break rates, here.
When WTNY.us began reporting water advisories in New York in 2021, the vast majority of water plant operators told us they report short term, precautionary BWA's to the affected users by knocking on doors, dropping off flyers when the residents are not home. When these events are reported to County Health authorities, a time-stamped press release is sent to local news media, in a professional format with complete location and jurisdiction details, including a public contact phone number. Drinking water facilities and County Health departments are not obligated to report these short-term, infrastructure incidents to the State or federal drinking water authorities. There are no official State or federal records of BWA's available to the public in the USA.
In 2021, the majority of 8400+ licensed public drinking water facilities we reached in New York State were not using social media platforms for making emergency BWA notifications. Over the last five years, we have been seeing a greater reliance on social media platforms. In Canada, BWA's are still most commonly conveyed by government officials, from the provincial and territorial health regions, delivered via local news media, with Quebec being the notable exception. Quebec has widely adopted social media for delivery of BWA's. In Mexico, there is minimal reporting of drinking water issues to the public. With recent public protests in Guadalajara, it is clear citizens are starting to clamour for disclosure on drinking water quality.
In drinking water emergencies, such as the need to boil water prior to drinking, preparing beverages and brushing teeth, the timeliness of public notice is an issue. As most youth and adults are carrying mobile phones, it is expedient for water plant operators to use social media and SMS messaging direct to their rate-payers.
Internet and social media posting do not cover all the public notification bases
As water utilities are privatized, reporting for public notification seems to be changing. Private water utility Utilities of Georgia, Inc. make their notifications on their customer-friendly website, issued and updated on a timely basis. Certain details are lacking, making it difficult for anyone other than the local users to decipher the news. Visitors to the community could easily be missed when internet or social media are exclusively relied upon for delivery of the BWA notice.
The most direct and timely way to get BWA notices out to the directly impacted rate-payers is likely an operator-initiated and controlled SMS-push alert system. WaterToday provides such a system at no charge to public water facilities. The secure and private subscriber system remains under the control of the water utility. Water plant operators issue the BWA via SMS, with all subscribed clients receiving the alert on their mobile phones. Ensuring local news stations also receive the BWA notice, along with social media posting will catch more of the target population, including travelers and the public not subscribed for water utility notices.
Often, BWA's posted on social media sites and privately-owned utilities websites are missing key information for complete public notice. With the town name missing from the notice, the specific water facility must be identified from several with the same name in the state or federal permit records. Contacting the consolidated water utility owner that may own and operate many dozens of licensed water plants over multiple states, about a BWA posted on the private (not municipal) website does not always help. Customer support staff picking up a 1-800 number require a service address in order to answer questions. As a media outlet inquiring on a BWA with no town given, we cannot publish the notice. Referencing a water facility by name from a BWA posted on a privately-owned utility website is not enough information for call center staff to provide the town or city. For example, seeking the town impacted, from a BWA for "Shady Lane Water System", call center staff either cannot, or will not confirm the town without a service address.
In these increasingly common cases, it cannot be said the public has been notified. While some may argue that BWA's are exclusively the business of connected rate-payers, consider those falling through the cracks:
- The unhoused, those without cell phone plans, transients relying on public water fountains
- Non-resident friends and family members checking in on loved ones, including students and the elderly, that may not have their names on the utility account.
- The traveling public in short-term accommodations.
- Those researching a move to a new neighborhood
These people also have a right to know about drinking water events, certainly need to know when a BWA has been issued.
Local news stations will always be vital for public notice, broadcasting without prejudice, reaching anyone that wants to tune in. This includes those without an operational mobile device, or without a paid-up data service plan and/or subscriptions in good standing with the popular social media sites.
In extreme danger cases, such as the Toledo Water Crisis, National Public Alert Systems can be engaged. Emergency alerts system push notifications to all cell phones on a local network area, as for Amber Alerts or weather emergencies. In the event of precautionary, short-term BWA's resulting from unplanned infrastructure failure, utilities with delivery control of their own notifications, also hitting the local news outlets along with social media are coming much closer to the diligence requirements for public trust.
See Georgia drinking water facilities with Serious Violations, here.
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