Memphis, Tennessee Water Outage Today

Who runs the water in Memphis: system profile

Memphis Light, Gas, & Water is the water system EPA lists for Memphis, serving about 659,500 people. Customers know it as Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW); the name on your bill is the one to call.

Where Memphis's tap water comes from

Memphis drinks groundwater. Memphis Light, Gas, & Water pumps it from 196 active wells and treats it before it goes into the mains. After treatment the water is held in 1 storage tank or reservoir, which is the buffer that keeps taps running for a few hours after a pump or main fails.

The outage angle. Every well runs on its own pump motor. A regional power cut can take many small sources offline at once, and the utility has to decide which wells have generators and which zones to prioritize. Ask Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) whether the wells that feed your neighborhood have standby power.

What causes water outages and low pressure in Memphis

Water outages are local, so the likely cause depends on weather, pipe age and the grid. For Memphis, these stand out.

• Freezing weather. Memphis sees about 53 days a year with a low at or below 32°F, and 7 days at or below 20°F. The coldest morning in the 2015 through 2025 record came on January 17, 2024. The longest stretch with highs that never rose above freezing ran 8 days, ending February 19, 2021. Frost pushes into shallow service lines first. Mains follow when the ground heaves and thaws, which is why break counts climb a day or two after the temperature swings.
• Flooding and heavy rain. NOAA logged 101 flood, flash flood and heavy rain reports in Shelby County from 2015 through 2026, and 12 days a year bring an inch of rain or more. Flooding is hard on water systems in three ways: it erodes soil around pipe crossings, drowns pumps and electrical equipment, and can let contaminated runoff into the mains, which triggers precautionary boil notices.
• Older neighborhoods and pipe. 50.2% of occupied homes in Memphis were built before 1970, against 35.5% nationally. Streets of that age tend to sit on cast iron and early steel mains that are near or past their design life, which is where most breaks start.
• Summer demand. Memphis has about 25 days a year at or above 95°F and 4 at or above 100°F, and the hottest day in the record came on August 26, 2023. Lawn irrigation and cooling push demand to its yearly high, so pumps run hard, tanks drain faster than they refill and pressure sags on high ground in the evening.
• Storm-driven power loss. Thunderstorm wind, hail and tornado reports in Shelby County number 270 since 2015. Pump stations and treatment plants that depend on Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) run on the electric grid, so a storm that downs power lines can lower water pressure even when no pipe is damaged.
• Digging and utility work. Street projects, fiber installation and excavation near buried pipe regularly cut mains in Memphis with no warning, usually on a day with perfectly ordinary weather.

Freeze, heat and rain: the Memphis weather record

Main break season in Memphis runs from late fall into early spring, with the coldest stretch around December through February.

Because this is gridded reanalysis data, individual hot and cold days can read a few degrees off what the airport recorded. The day counts and yearly patterns are the useful part.

Memphis boil water notices and EPA compliance record

EPA lists no health-based violations for Memphis Light, Gas, & Water since 2015.

When Memphis loses pressure after a break or a failed test, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) asks affected customers to boil water for drinking and cooking. The notice ends only after samples come back clean, which usually takes one to two days after service returns, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) supervises the process.

What the lead tests and housing age say about Memphis

The most recent 90th-percentile lead result filed for Memphis Light, Gas, & Water is 4.7 ppb (2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb, so that result is comfortably below it.

The age of the housing matters more than the utility's test average: 50.2% of occupied homes in Memphis predate 1970 and 1986 was the year lead pipe and solder were banned. Flush the cold tap after an outage and ask Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) whether your service line is on its lead inventory.

When will the water come back on in Memphis?

A crew that arrives at an ordinary main break in Memphis usually needs 4 to 8 hours to isolate the pipe, dig, repair, flush and restore pressure. Large transmission mains, deep pipes and breaks under busy streets can take a day or more. With 659,500 people on the system, a break on a main that feeds a whole district can leave thousands of homes dry at once, and crews may close valves several blocks away to isolate it.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) will post an estimated restoration time for a break that affects many customers; ask for the repair crew's estimate when you call.

Emergency water storage for Memphis households

The average household in Memphis has about 2.4 people, so FEMA's minimum of one gallon per person per day comes to roughly 7 gallons for three days and 34 gallons for two weeks.

• 55.1% of households rent. Tell your landlord or property manager about a leak or outage right away, since the shutoff valve may be theirs.
• A standard water heater is a ready-made 40-gallon reserve. Shut off its power or gas, open a hot tap somewhere in the house, and draw from the drain valve.
• Fill a tub or large containers early for toilets, cleaning and handwashing, and store drinking water separately in clean bottles.

Memphis versus neighboring water utilities

Water outage pages for nearby cities

Bartlett, TN · Jackson, TN · Little Rock, AR · Clarksville, TN