Ridgetop Boil Water Notice

Update Saturday, May 28, 2022 – Boil Water Notice LIFTED

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has given approval for White House Utility District (WHUD) to lift the boil water notice for Ridgetop and surrounding areas.

Since disconnecting the improper wastewater connection made by the City of Ridgetop’s Sewer Department, WHUD has continuously flushed the water lines in this area and repeatedly tested the water quality. No signs of bacteria have been detected in the water, and the water has been deemed safe to drink and use.

As a precaution, WHUD and TDEC recommend that all customers in the affected area flush all faucets – hot and cold – prior to returning to normal use and consumption. Some general flushing tips can be found below. Any customers with questions specific to their home’s plumbing can call WHUD at 615-672-4110 for assistance.

Tips for Flushing Private Water Lines

While every home and business is unique, the following information may be helpful in flushing private plumbing lines following the lifting of a boil water advisory. Flushing your household and building water lines includes interior and exterior faucets, showers, water and ice dispensers, water treatment units, etc.

Please note, the following are not explicit directions, because there is no one-sized fits all approach to home plumbing. Rather, these are general tips. If you have specific questions or concerns about your home or business, you can call our office at 615-672-4110 for additional assistance. You can also contact a reputable plumber with questions.

Faucets:

Before using the water line for drinking, brushing teeth, making ice cubes, food preparation etc., hot and cold water lines should be flushed. You should also flush all cold-water lines such as fountains, showers and outside water spigots and run them for 5-10 minutes (possibly longer if you have a long service line). Here are the steps to flush your interior plumbing lines:

- Beginning with the lowest faucet in home or business, open the hot and cold faucets.
- Open other faucets one at a time, moving from the lowest floor to the highest floor
- After 5-10 minutes of continuous running, turn off the faucets in reverse order, from highest elevation in the house or building to lowest.

Water Heaters:

In general, tankless or on-demand water heaters may not need to be flushed as much as a system with a tank. Systems with a tank may need to be drained and refilled.

Dishwashers:

After flushing all water lines, run the dishwasher while empty one time.

Coffee Makers, Food Dispensers and Beverage Machines:

Flush equipment like food dispensers and beverage machines with clean water and follow the instruction manual on how to disinfect or clean the machine.

Water Treatment Device:

Replace water filters, water cartridges, faucet screens and aerators on all taps used as water treatment and filtration devices, in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. When in doubt, it is always best to clean, sanitize, and disinfect any of these devices before using water again.

Humidifiers and Other Medical Equipment:

Discard any water used in humidifiers, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), oral, medical, or health care devices, and rinse the device with clean water, in accordance with manufacturer recommendations.

Refrigerator Water-Dispensing Machine:

Water dispensers from refrigerators should be flushed for 5 minutes or until at least one quart of water has been dispensed. You may also want to consider changing any filter cartridges.

Ice Cubes:

Automatic ice dispensers should be emptied of ice made during the boil water advisory and run through a 24-hour cycle, discarding the ice to assure purging of the icemaker water supply line.

Other Questions:

If you have questions specific to your home or business plumbing, please call our office at 615-672-4110. We will be glad to assist you.

For health questions, please call the TN Department of Health Communicable and Environmental Diseases at 615-741-7247, M-F, from 8am-4pm. Or you can call the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline M-F, 9am-4pm, at 1-800-426-4791.

Update Friday, May 27, 2022

We have received many questions about this situation and want to provide as much information as possible. As we get more information, we will post it here. Here are a few commonly asked questions and what we know at this time:

How did this happen?

We are still investigating exactly how this happened, but what we do know is that a Ridgetop connected a residential wastewater line to our water line. Right now, our top priority is getting safe water restored to all customers as quickly as possible.

When did it happen?

We are still waiting on information from the City of Ridgetop to determine exactly when the improper connection occurred.

What are we doing to prevent it from happening again?

We are still in the thick of the investigation and learning all that we can about how this occurred. What we know right now is that a City of Ridgetop residential sewer line was improperly connected to our water line. As we learn more, we are working with TDEC to determine the proper steps and procedures that need to be implemented by Ridgetop to prevent this from happening again.

Thursday, May 26, 2022, White House Utility District (WHUD) discovered that the City of Ridgetop Sewer Department connected a residential wastewater service line to a WHUD water line. The discovery came after customers complained of an odor in the water, which prompted immediate investigation by the district. WHUD performed extensive flushing, sampling, and chlorine testing which led to the discovery of this improper cross connection.

Immediately upon finding the issue, WHUD disconnected the cross-connected wastewater line and have been actively flushing the water lines in the area and collecting additional bacterial samples. The district is working closely with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and will be actively flushing and testing the water over the next 24 hours.

Since the initial customer complaints, WHUD has been continuously sampling the water. While no bacteria has been detected, WHUD is requesting that all customers in the affected area boil water prior to use or consumption until further notice. If any bacteria are present in the water, they can make people sick. This is a particular concern for the elderly or people with weakened immune systems.

Boiling water kills bacteria and other organisms in the water. Here are the steps to boil water:

First and foremost, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST.
Bring all water to a rolling boil.
Let it boil for one minute.
Let the water cool before using it.

Customer can also use bottled water as an alternative. If customers need bottled water, please contact our office at 615-672-4110.

This incident is isolated to the Ridgetop area. WHUD is issuing a phone and email notification to all potentially affected customers. The map below shows exactly which homes are affected. As soon as the district is confident the water is safe to use and consume, customers will be notified by WHUD directly.

To our customers – your safety is our top priority, and we are upset that this has occurred. We appreciate the customers who alerted us to this issue so we could quickly investigate and resolve the matter.