Water customers served by the New Cordell Utility Authority are being told to boil their tap water or switch to bottled water after E. coli was detected in the system's drinking water supply. The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality issued the mandatory order Friday, and officials have not said when it will be lifted.
The state agency confirmed it issued a mandatory boil order for the New Cordell Utility Authority, located in Washita County, due to E. coli in the drinking water, according to KFOR. As News 9 reported, customers must boil water before drinking, cooking, or any other consumption-related activity starting Friday.
DEQ instructed residents to use water that has been brought to a full, rolling boil for at least one minute before drinking it or preparing food with it, the same KFOR report states. Anyone who prefers to skip the stovetop can instead rely on bottled water or another acceptable source for consumption, food preparation, dishwashing and brushing teeth, per the agency's guidance.
No Timeline Yet for Lifting the Order
Officials have not announced a date for when the boil order will be lifted, leaving New Cordell households without a clear end point for the inconvenience. DEQ has said only that users will be notified when the water is considered safe for human consumption, the same source notes.
Federal law requires public water systems to notify customers when contamination exceeds safety limits and could pose a health risk, according to DEQ. The agency has said its public notification rule exists to make sure consumers know when there's a problem with their drinking water, with notices meant to spell out the severity of the issue and what steps people need to take, per the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality's compliance monitoring page.
Not an Isolated Incident in Western Oklahoma
New Cordell is not the only western Oklahoma water system to face this kind of order this year. DEQ previously required Hydro PWA, located in Caddo County, to tell its customers to use water that had been brought to a full, rolling boil, the agency said in a news release. That order came through a separate process earlier in 2026 and is not connected to the New Cordell situation beyond both falling under DEQ's oversight.
Boil orders tied to E. coli contamination are not uncommon across the state's public water systems. A DEQ compliance report notes that mandatory boil orders were issued for public water systems that tested positive for E. coli, and that 286 systems recorded 691 monitoring violations tied to federal rules governing water system testing, according to the agency's own figures.
Until New Cordell Utility Authority customers hear otherwise from DEQ, the boiling and bottled-water precautions remain in effect for drinking, food preparation, dishwashing and brushing teeth. News 9's report on the order was written by digital producer Cassidy Mudd, who joined the station in June 2026.
