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Austin’s water director resigns after another boil order

Boil water notice issued for Bell County residents
Posted at 6:50 PM, Feb 11, 2022

The director of Austin’s water department resigned Friday, days after employee mistakes at a treatment plant put the city under a boil order notice for three days.

Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros announced his resignation in a letter Friday, the Austin American-Statesman reported. He wrote that he takes “full responsibility for any shortcomings at the utility this past week.”

Texas’ capital city — which has a population of about 960,000 — has experienced three boil orders since 2018 and another separate incident in which water for some residents had a foul, fishy odor because of the presence of dead zebra mussels, the newspaper reported.

Meszaros has served as Austin Water’s director since 2007.

The most recent boil order began Saturday night and was lifted Tuesday night. Officials have said employees at a treatment plant did not respond quickly enough to signs of cloudiness in the water.