Houston boil water notice forces schools to shut down

A notice at a Houston H-E-B on Monday says customers are limited to two cases of water. (Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune)

Millions of residents in the Houston area are expected to remain under a boil water notice until Tuesday after two transformers at a water treatment plant in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city went offline. At least four area school districts are closed Monday in response.

The city’s 2.2 million water customers were told to boil water for at least two minutes before preparing food, drinking, bathing or brushing teeth. Customers were also told to avoid using water from refrigerators or ice makers. Those who cannot boil water are advised to use bottled water.