Boil water notice issued in Bradenton after 'citywide' water outage

BRADENTON, Fla. - Several callers reported a widespread water outage in West Bradenton on Sunday, according to authorities. 

According to Public Works, the water outage was citywide, affecting 57,000 residents.

Officials say there was a citywide water outage because of a power outage at the city's Water Treatment Plant. According to authorities, there was low water pressure and outages across the city.

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The city says Public Works activated backup generators, and pressure was restored at 8:30 a.m. Around 2:00 p.m., Florida Power & Light (FPL) successfully repaired the problem and restored power to the Bradenton Water Treatment Plant.

Tiffanie McDermott was one of the Bradenton residents affected by the outage. 

"She [her daughter] woke me up at 6:45 this morning and I went to go wash my hands and initially it was off." She said she contacted her building's maintenance department. "They’re like, ‘yeah. It’s a complete outage’," she explained.

So, McDermott and her family went to Jeremiah's Italian Ice down the street on Manatee Avenue West. 

"We're celebrating a late birthday for her [McDermott's daughter]. She’s 2 and a half now but we were trying to celebrate her second birthday with her grandparents and unfortunately couldn’t get ice cream. But that’s okay."

All three of Jeremiah's Italian Ice's locations closed down on Sunday afternoon due to the boil water advisory.

"We don’t want to mess with anyone’s health and keep the integrity that we stand behind," Owner and Operator Jake Lopez said. 

Employees at the Bradenton location used up any product from the night before. 

"Any of the product that was made today [Sunday] is going to have to get thrown out." The location closed down 7 hours early with plans to reopen Tuesday, once the advisory is lifted. 

"We need water to be able to clean all of our products and we need water to be able to clean the scoopers as we’re digging in between every bucket. With this kind of advisory, a boil water notice, we don’t have anything that we can boil water in here," he said.

The Public Works Department issued a 48-hour precautionary boil water notice to city water customers because of the power failure at the potable water pump distribution station, according to officials. Bradenton's potable water is safe to drink. Authorities say the boil water notice is just an extra safety measure.

Officials say all water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, or washing dishes should be boiled. A rolling boil for one minute is sufficient or bottled water can be used.

According to authorities, the following areas, which utilize Manatee County water but are billed by the City of Bradenton utilities, did not experience a pressure interruption and therefore are not affected by the boil water notice:

• Perico Bay
• Manatee Memorial
• Palma Sola
• Harbor Isle
• Harbor Isle Marina

The boil water notice will be in effect from 10:00 a.m. Sunday, July 21, 2024, to 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

In a statement to FOX 13, a FPL spokesperson said, "FPL crews responded to an early morning weather-related power outage in Bradenton, Florida impacting the city’s water plant. Our crews worked safely and as quickly as possible to restore service."

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