Regional Water boil advisory lifted for one community; remains in effect for others

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"Level Yellow" water-use restrictions continue

AVOCA – The Regional Water Rural Water District announced that the drinking water boil advisory for the City of Avoca, which went into effect on May 14, 2025, has been lifted effective immediately. This strictly applies to the City of Avoca. Other communities on the system are at various stages of collecting and analyzing water samples, with an estimated completion date of Tuesday, June 3, 2025. 

To lift a boil advisory, two water samples must be negative for bacteria. The City of Avoca notified Regional Water it has completed two sets of bacteria samples and both are negative. 

According to Regional Water, almost 80 sampling points have been required to be collected and analyzed due to the systemwide pressure loss. 

Regional Water’s water towers across the system have maintained pressure throughout the weekend. Customers’ conservation practices and measures have proven helpful in filling the water towers. 

While the water towers are currently in good standing, residents are asked to continue to be mindful of water conservation and use. Even with the anticipated boil advisory being lifted throughout the week, drought conditions continue to affect southwest Iowa. Until a temporary booster station is in place and running, water availability remains a concern. 

The completion of a temporary booster pump between the region and Council Bluffs was delayed last week due to wet weather. However, in the last few days the area was dry enough to continue pipeline construction and testing; barring any unforeseen circumstances, Regional Water hopes the connection between Council Bluffs and Regional Water’s system will be completed around June 11. 

Residents should be aware that if water use goes beyond the capacity of the system, the towers could lose pressure. If the towers lose pressure below 20 PSI, a boil advisory will go into effect again. The connection with the City of Council Bluffs will hopefully prevent overuse from happening. However, until that connection is complete, residents can help limit water use:  

  1. Limit (or avoid) watering or irrigation of lawns.
  2. Limit (or avoid) washing vehicles, except at commercial establishments that provide that service as their only means of income. In these cases, hours of use will be restricted to 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  3. No water shall be used to fill private swimming pools, children’s wading pools, or similar articles.
  4. No water shall be used to clean streets, driveways, sidewalks, etc.
  5. Large-volume water users, including industries, motels, hotels, eating establishments, and livestock confinements are requested to scale back services and/or production.
  6. Schools are strongly urged to cancel physical education activities and inter-scholastic competitions that require showers or attract crowds, and take other actions to reduce water consumption.

Bottled water is still available at the RWRWD Avoca office. 

Regional Water wants to thank its customers for their patience and perseverance through the last several months. We know it has not been easy. Please know, Regional Water continues to work closely with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to ensure safe drinking water is delivered to its customers. 

For more information, please contact the Regional Water Office at (712) 343-2413.