Jackson, Miss., water finally safe to drink again, says EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that the city’s water is safe to drink again after months of sampling at a treatment facility. Floods in August caused supply disruptions for about 150,000 residents, but the city had already been under a boil-water warning since July. The city has encouraged residents to stay up-to-date on the water situation for further possible boil-water notices or notices about other local issues. Gov. Tate Reeves extended the city’s state of emergency to Nov. 22, saying that by then the state will have transitioned control of the water supply away from the state to a private operator.

What did Jackson residents do for water over the past few months? Although water was restored to many people within days after the August flooding caused a shutoff of the water supply, many Jackson residents have avoided drinking the tap water—and have done so for years—out of distrust of the supply. During the water crisis, people lined up for bottled water to use for cooking, bathing, and drinking.

Dig deeper: Read Gary Perilloux’s report in Compassion about the water crisis in Jackson.