Boil advisory lifted for western Iowa counties, water restrictions still in place

POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, Iowa (WOWT) - A boil water advisory has been lifted in five Iowa counties after more than a week.

On May 25, customers of the Regional Rural Water District in Shelby, Audubon, Cass, Harrison and northern Pottawattamie Counties were told to boil water and conserve it.

Officials said the issues were related to drought conditions. And while the boil water advisory had been lifted, the affected areas are still on water restrictions. The affected communities include Avoca, Portsmouth, Westphalia, Kirkman, Tennant, Panama, Earling, Exira, Persia and Brayton.

The continued restrictions do not affect Council Bluffs.

The Regional Rural Water District says municipal, residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial users are required to continue water reduction measures, including:

• No outdoor watering of any kind is allowed between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. This includes watering of lawns. Newer gardens, flowers and sod can be watered once a week outside of those hours.
• No car washing is allowed, except for those sorts of businesses.
• No water should be used to fill private pools or the like.
• Water is not to be used to clean streets or driveways.

In addition, large users of water like hotels, restaurants and livestock confinements are asked to scale back services. As well, schools are strongly urged by the Regional Rural Water District to cancel physical education activities and interscholastic competitions that require showers or attract crowds, and take other actions to reduce water consumption.

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