JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JEA has given the all-clear and is reporting it’s now safe for more than 19,500 customers to drink tap water on the Southside.
On Friday, the utility put out a boil water advisory after E. coli was discovered in a well that supplied a local water treatment facility.
We spoke with a handful of restaurants and residents in the impacted area throughout the weekend who told us they never heard anything from JEA about the health advisory. Based on what we heard from customers Sunday, those communication issues haven’t been resolved.
Ryan Itzkowitz, a resident at an apartment complex in Town Center, told us he learned about the boil water advisory after he saw bottled water being served at a nearby restaurant.
“I didn’t get a text or anything or call,” Itzkowitz said.
When we spoke with him around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, we broke the news the advisory had been lifted.
“I didn’t even know it got lifted either,” Itkowitz said.
It was the same story at Si Senior Mexican Restaurant, where the manager was still serving bottled water at 4 p.m.
“Yes, we didn’t know that it was lifted either,” Si Senior manager Mario Bayardo said.
JEA maintains all customer notifications were completed within 90 minutes of the advisory being lifted at 8:15 a.m. Sunday.
Action News Jax first reported on Saturday that JEA had acknowledged communication issues with informing customers of the initial advisory.
“JEA learned late on Friday night that the message did not reach all customers in a timely manner. JEA leaders apologize for the delay and are working to address the issues,” a JEA spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
But the businesses and residents who had to hear about the advisory being lifted through us, still have concerns about JEA communicating future health advisories.
“I feel like they needed to let us know so we can take some measurements for the safety of the customers. That way, you know, we can provide a better service, you know, better water I guess,” Bayardo said.
As far as the apartment complex resident we spoke with, JEA pointed out they did publish signs informing residents at 25 properties that the advisory had been lifted.
There was a sign posted on the property of Itzkowitz’s complex.
As for why the restaurant hadn’t been updated, JEA was unable to give us a specific explanation.
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