Chapter 8
Boil-water notices in Wharton County
The questionWhat does a boil-water notice mean for my house, and how long do I boil?
The short answerBoil-water notices in Wharton County are issued by your water system under state TCEQ rules when pressure or disinfection drops, and they mean boiling tap water for the time printed on the notice.
By the editors of High Water at Home · Updated · about 7 minutes
Sections in this chapter
8.1 What triggers a boil-water notice in Texas?
A drop in pressure or in disinfectant is the usual cause. The TCEQ's page Understanding Boil Water Notices, lists the triggers, as the page stood after its 22 Jan 2026 update, under state rule 30 TAC 290.46(q) (Table 8.1). Pressure matters most in a storm: when it falls, dirty water outside a cracked main can be drawn in. FEMA's utility guide notes that suppliers routinely issue boil orders after events where system pressure is lost.
| Condition | Threshold in the rule |
|---|---|
| Low pressure | Below 20 pounds per square inch |
| Low free chlorine | Below 0.2 mg/L |
| Low total chlorine | Below 0.5 mg/L |
| E. coli | A violation of the federal limit |
| Cloudy water | Turbidity above the treatment limit |
A hurricane can bring all of these at once. Power fails at wells and pumps, mains break where trees come down, and floodwater sits over lines and valves.
8.2 Who issues the notice in Wharton County?
Your own water system does, not the county. The City of Wharton runs its own system from wells in the Chicot aquifer, according to its 2025 water quality report. El Campo runs its own, and smaller districts and subdivisions run theirs. The TCEQ's list of lifted notices from the February 2021 freeze shows that: City of El Campo, Wharton Boling MWD, Isaacson MUD and two subdivision systems in the county each lifted their own notice on their own date.
Find your system's name on your water bill. If you have a private well, no one issues a notice for it; testing well water is your job.
8.3 How will you hear about one?
Under TCEQ rules, a system has 24 hours at most from the moment the problem begins to get its notice out. A community system may use radio and TV, the local daily paper, door-to-door delivery, posted notices or electronic alerts such as reverse 911. A posted notice stays up as long as the problem lasts or seven days, whichever is longer, and notices must come in Spanish or other languages where the population calls for it.
The City of Wharton sends mass messages through Smart911, where you can register a home phone, a cell number or an email address. Its page does not say boil notices go out that way, so also watch the city's website and local radio. For a broken main or a sewer problem at night, the city routes calls through Wharton Police dispatch.
8.4 How long do you boil the water?
Boil for as long as your own system's notice says. The TCEQ's customer guidance says to bring water to a vigorous rolling boil and keep it there for two minutes. The CDC's advisory page gives 1 minute at a full rolling boil as the minimum at our elevation. Let it cool before anyone drinks it or bathes a child with it.
Boil even filtered water. The CDC says a home filter or filter pitcher does not replace boiling. Boiling also does nothing for chemicals: if a notice says do not drink or do not use, boiling will not make the water safe, so drink from your stored supply; chapter 4 covers how much to keep.
8.5 What can you use tap water for during a notice?
Some uses need boiled or bottled water and some do not (Table 8.2). When in doubt, use bottled.
| Use | What to do |
|---|---|
| Drinking, cooking, baby formula | Boiled and cooled, or bottled |
| Brushing teeth | Boiled and cooled, or bottled |
| Ice | Do not use ice from trays, dispensers or ice makers |
| Refrigerator water dispenser | Do not use |
| Dishwasher | Generally safe with a sanitizing cycle, or a last rinse that gets to 150°F or hotter |
| Washing dishes by hand | Rinse, then soak at least 1 minute in 1 teaspoon unscented bleach per gallon of warm water |
| Bathing a baby | Consider sponge baths |
| Pets | Boiled and cooled, or bottled |
| Houseplants and garden | Tap water is fine |
8.6 How does a notice end?
Only after the system has fixed the problem, flushed its lines and passed lab tests. The TCEQ says a system may lift a notice once the cause is corrected, disinfectant levels are back to normal, and special bacteriological samples come back free of coliform. Word that it has ended reaches you by the same channels as the first notice, and the system reports the lift to the TCEQ within 24 hours.
8.7 What should you do once it is lifted?
Flush the house. The CDC's advisory toolbox tells utilities to have customers run hot and cold taps for a set number of minutes, beginning with the highest faucet, so follow the minutes in your system's lift notice. Flush the fridge's water line too, discard ice made during the notice, and put in a new fridge or under-sink filter. The chapter on tap water after a flood goes through the water heater and treatment units, and the chapter on softeners and filters covers cartridges and media.
Questions readers ask
Is a boil-water notice the same as a do-not-drink notice?
No. The CDC names three kinds of advisory: boil water, do not drink and do not use. Boiling fixes germs, not chemicals, so a do-not-drink or do-not-use notice means bottled water only.
Can we shower during a boil-water notice?
The TCEQ's customer list covers drinking, ice, teeth and dishes and suggests sponge baths for babies. For older children and adults, follow whatever the notice itself says about bathing.
Does a notice for El Campo cover Wharton too?
No. Each system issues its own. In 2021 El Campo lifted its notice on 20 Feb, while the City of Wharton was never on the TCEQ's lifted list.
Why does the water smell strongly of chlorine after a notice?
Water systems often turn up chlorine to clean their pipes, the CDC's 2016 toolbox explains. Run the taps as the lift notice says, and the smell usually fades.
Should well owners boil water when the city has a notice?
A city notice does not cover a private well. If your well was flooded, though, use boiled or bottled water until it has been disinfected and passes a lab test, as the chapter on disinfecting a well explains.
What this chapter rests on
This chapter follows the TCEQ's boil-notice page (last modified 22 Jan 2026), the CDC's advisory overview (updated 21 Feb 2024) and its 2016 toolbox, the City of Wharton's 2025 water report and alert page, and TCEQ records from the 2021 freeze, all checked on 11 Nov 2026. This book could not confirm how the City of El Campo announces notices; ask the city how it will reach you.
Notes to chapter 8
- TCEQ — Understanding Boil Water Notices · triggers, 24-hour rule, delivery methods, two-minute boil, ice, dishes, lifting a notice · checked 11 Nov 2026
- CDC — Drinking Water Advisories: An Overview · 1-minute boil, filtered water, three advisory types, dishwashers, plants and pets · checked 11 Nov 2026
- CDC — Boil Water Advisory · boiling does not remove chemicals · checked 11 Nov 2026
- CDC — Drinking Water Advisory Communication Toolbox (2016) · flushing after a notice, chlorine smell · checked 11 Nov 2026
- FEMA — P-348, Protecting Building Utility Systems From Flood Damage (2017) · boil orders after pressure loss · checked 11 Nov 2026
- City of Wharton — 2025 Consumer Confidence Report · Chicot aquifer groundwater supply · checked 11 Nov 2026
- City of Wharton — Smart911 · mass alerts · checked 11 Nov 2026
- City of Wharton — After Hours Utility Emergency · after-hours water and sewer emergencies · checked 11 Nov 2026
- TCEQ — Recommendations to Improve Public Water System Resiliency (memo, 9 May 2022) · about 2,300 notices in 212 counties in 2021 · checked 11 Nov 2026
- TCEQ — Public Water Systems with Lifted Boil Water Notices (2021) · Wharton County systems and lift dates · checked 11 Nov 2026
- City of Wharton — Conserve Water Press Release, 18 Feb 2021 · conservation, not a boil-water issue · checked 11 Nov 2026