Fort Worth, Texas Water Outage Today

Who runs the water in Fort Worth: system profile

City of Fort Worth is the water system EPA lists for Fort Worth, serving about 955,900 people. Customers know it as Fort Worth Water; the name on your bill is the one to call.

What feeds the taps in Fort Worth

Fort Worth drinks surface water. City of Fort Worth draws it from 9 - Lk Benbrook, 6 - Eagle Mountain Lake, and 2 - Lake Worth (New) and treats it before it goes into the distribution system. Treatment points named in EPA's facility list include Plant 5 - Westside, Plant 4 - Eagle Mountain - Phase Iii, and Plant - Eagle Mountain - Phase I & Ii. After treatment the water is held in 46 storage tanks and reservoirs and pushed uphill by 121 pump facilities; that storage is the buffer that keeps taps running for a few hours after a pump or main fails.

The outage angle. Because the water is drawn from open surface sources, it has to be filtered and disinfected continuously. A plant problem therefore hits everyone at once, unlike a main break, which only dries up the blocks on either side of the damaged pipe.

Why the water goes out in Fort Worth

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

• Freezing weather. Fort Worth sees about 31 days a year with a low at or below 32°F, and 3 days at or below 20°F. The coldest morning in the 2015 through 2025 record came on February 16, 2021. The longest stretch with highs that never rose above freezing ran 4 days, ending February 16, 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.
• Summer demand. Fort Worth has about 68 days a year at or above 95°F and 35 at or above 100°F, and the hottest day in the record came on July 22, 2018. 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 Tarrant County number 835 since 2015. Pump stations and treatment plants that depend on Oncor run on the electric grid, so a storm that downs power lines can lower water pressure even when no pipe is damaged.
• Flooding and heavy rain. NOAA logged 124 flood, flash flood and heavy rain reports in Tarrant County from 2015 through 2026, and 8 days a year bring an inch of rain or more. Floodwater can undercut pipe crossings, swamp pump stations and overload treatment plants, and a notice to boil water often follows when it enters the system.
• Younger pipe, different risks. Only 25.3% of occupied homes in Fort Worth predate 1970 (US 35.5%), so more of the network is newer plastic or ductile iron. Breaks tend to come from construction damage, pressure surges and weather rather than age.
• Damage from other crews. Water mains share the ground with gas, power and telecom lines, and a strike by any contractor can dry up a block in seconds.

How weather strains the Fort Worth water system

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

These counts come from a gridded reanalysis, which smooths out single-day extremes and can differ by a few degrees from an airport thermometer. Use them to compare seasons and years, not as official station records.

Fort Worth boil water notices and EPA compliance record

EPA lists 1 health-based violation for City of Fort Worth since 2015. It also lists 1 monitoring or reporting entry that is about paperwork rather than water quality, such as a missed sample or a late report.

Most recent health-based entries:

• March 2021: A treatment technique violation under the surface water treatment rules It is marked resolved.

Boil water notices in Fort Worth are precautions, not findings. When pressure drops, Fort Worth Water tells affected customers to boil water until two rounds of lab tests are clean, a process that normally takes 24 to 48 hours after service is restored, under oversight from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

What the lead tests and housing age say about Fort Worth

The most recent 90th-percentile lead result filed for City of Fort Worth is 3 ppb (2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb, so that result is well under it.

25.3% of occupied homes in Fort Worth were built before 1970, and lead service lines and solder stayed legal until the federal ban in 1986. After any outage that disturbs the pipes, run the cold tap 30 seconds to 2 minutes before drinking, and ask Fort Worth Water about its lead service line inventory.

Restoration times for water outages in Fort Worth

A crew that arrives at an ordinary main break in Fort Worth 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 955,900 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.

For a break that affects many customers, Fort Worth Water usually posts an estimated restoration time. When you call, ask the dispatcher what the crew has told them.

Preparing for a long water outage in Fort Worth

Census figures put the typical Fort Worth household at about 2.8 people. At one gallon per person per day that is 8 gallons for three days or 39 gallons for a two-week supply.

• Heat: 68 days a year top 95°F here, so plan for more than the one-gallon minimum, and keep extra for pets.
• Your water heater tank holds 30 to 50 gallons of clean water. Turn off the power or gas to it first, then drain from the valve at the bottom.
• Fill a tub or large containers early for toilets, cleaning and handwashing, and store drinking water separately in clean bottles.

How Fort Worth compares with nearby water systems

Water outage pages for nearby cities

Arlington, TX · Grand Prairie, TX · Irving, TX · Dallas, TX