Emergency Guidelines for Food Facilities under a Boil Water Advisory (BWA)

During a Boil Water Advisory

Key takeaways 

• Food Service Establishments can remain open during a water service outage or Boil Water Advisory (BWA) as long as they can provide water safely. The facility will need to use an alternative water source (boiled, bottled, trucked in, etc.) until the BWA is lifted. 
• The RHHD Office of Environmental Health has been in contact with restaurant owners and operators. Inspectors are providing specific guidance for operating under the outage and BWA. 
• During an outage, restaurants should provide employees with a portable restroom or water for flushing. A public restroom or water for flushing should be provided to patrons if seated dining is available. 
• The best practice is to use only boiled, bottled or treated water for employee handwashing. If that is not possible, and handwashing is done with soap and tap water, employees must thoroughly dry their hands with paper towels and then use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Food handlers must NOT touch ready to eat foods with bare hands. Instead, they should use physical barriers, such as disposable papers, gloves and utensils. 
• Patrons may use tap water for handwashing provided that hand sanitizer is made available at each sink. Mangers should post a notice advising patrons not to use tap water for drinking or for brushing teeth. 
• A food facility manager is responsible for initial and ongoing assessments to ensure consistent compliance with food safety requirements. The manager should: 
  • Assess food, water and ice in your facility affected by the advisory start date. 
  • Implement the appropriate emergency procedures or remain closed until disinfection of contaminated items occurs and boil water advisory is lifted. 
  • Immediately discontinue operations if a safe operation cannot be maintained using alternative procedures. 
  • Follow all requirements for flushing lines and thoroughly clean and sanitize all food contact surfaces prior to resuming normal operations when advisory is lifted. 
  • Discontinue use of post-mix carbonated beverage machine, auto-fill coffee makers, instant hot water heaters, etc. using auto-fill. Remove and replace any filters that may have been connected to water lines. 
  • Discard existing ice made after the advisory and clean and sanitize ice bins. Discontinue routine methods of making ice until boil water order is lifted. Use commercially manufactured ice from an unaffected water supply. 
  • Discard any ready-to-eat food prepared with water prior to the advisory or incident. 
  • Use commercially bottled or boiled water to prepare ready-to-eat food and to wash or soak produce. 

Additional guidance

What is a Boil Water Advisory (BWA?) A BWA is a type of public notice is typically issued to inform consumer that they should boil their water or use an alternative source of drinking water. BWAs are typically issued because of a microbiological contaminant in the drinking water presents a threat to public health and safety. Boiling the water will kill the microbes of concern. 

What food facilities are affected? All food facilities—including restaurants, supermarkets, caterers, food service operations in schools, nursing homes and hospitals, charitable food facilities, kitchens in non-profit institutions, food manufacturers and distributors and anyone else involved in the commercial preparation and distribution of food, water and beverages—could be affected if a boil water advisory is issued in your area. 

What should all community members do during a BWA? All water used for drinking, preparing food, beverages, ice cubes, washing fruits and vegetables, should be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute (or the length of time in the advisory) on a stovetop, in an electric kettle, or in a microwave using a microwave-safe container. 

What should restaurant, supermarket and food service managers do during a BWA?  A food facility manager (or the “Person-in-Charge”) is responsible for conducting both the initial and ongoing assessments to ensure consistent compliance with food safety requirements.

1. Assess food, water and ice in your facility affected by the advisory start date
2. Implement the appropriate emergency procedures outlined below or remain closed until disinfection of contaminated items occurs and boil water advisory is lifted.
3. Immediately discontinue operations if a safe operation cannot be maintained using alternative procedures
4. Follow all requirements for flushing lines and thoroughly clean and sanitize all food contact surfaces prior to resuming normal operations when advisory is lifted. 

What should food facilities do to address a current BWA? The following are temporary alternative procedures that can be taken to address specific affected food operations during a biological contamination of the water supply (boil water advisory). Where “boiled” water is indicated, the water must remain at a rolling boil for at least one minute. Large volumes of water should be brought to a rolling boil for at least three to five minutes. 

What are Alternative Sources of Drinking Water?  

• Use commercially bottled water
• Haul water from an approved public water supply in a covered sanitized container
• Arrange to use a licensed potable drinking water tanker truck.

What should be done about Beverages Made with Piped in Water – including post mix carbonated beverages, auto-fill coffee makers, instant hot water dispenser, juice, tea, etc.? Discontinue use of post-mix carbonated beverage machine, auto-fill coffee makers, instant hot water heaters, etc. using auto-fill. Remove and replace any filters that may have been connected to water lines. 

What should be done about ice?  

• Discard existing ice made after the advisory and clean and sanitize ice bins
• Discontinue routine methods of making ice until boil water order is lifted
• Use commercially manufactured ice from an unaffected water supply.

What about food products requiring water?  

• Discard any ready-to-eat food prepared with water prior to the advisory or incident
• Prepare ready-to-eat food using commercially bottled or boiled water.

What alternatives are there for washing/soaking produce?  

• Do not use tap water for washing/soaking produce.
• Use pre-washed packaged produce
• Use frozen/canned fruits and vegetables
• Wash fresh produce with boiled, commercially bottled water, or safe potable water hauled from another unaffected public water supply system.

Can tap water be used to thaw frozen foods?  

• Do not use tap water to thaw frozen foods
• Thaw only in the refrigerator, or microwave as part of the cooking process.

Can tap water be used when cooking food?  

•  Tap water may be used if it has been at a rolling boil for at least three minutes

Can tap water be used by employees of a food facility for handwashing? 

• The best practice is to use only boiled, bottled or treated water for handwashing
• If that is not possible, and handwashing is done with soap and tap water, you must thoroughly dry your hands with paper towels and then use a hand sanitizer.
• As a reminder—food handlers must NOT touch ready to eat foods with bare hands. Instead they should use physical barriers, such as disposable papers, gloves and utensils.

Can patrons use tap water in the restrooms during a boil water order?  

• Patrons may use tap water for handwashing provided that hand sanitizer is made available at each sink.
• Post a notice advising patrons not to use tap water for drinking or for brushing teeth.

What about cleaning and sanitizing utensils and tableware?  

• Use disposable, single-service utensils and tableware OR
• Use the existing automatic dish machine or the 3-compartment sink. Make certain that the sanitization step is being properly conducted (sanitizer concentration/temperature).
  • Heat sanitizing dishwashers may be used only if verification can be made via a dishwashing thermometer that the final rinse temperature is reaching 180 F or above for the full rinse cycle.  If this cannot be verified, after removal from the dishwasher, all dishes should be dipped in an approved sanitizer, followed by proper air drying.  
  • Chemical sanitizing dishwashers may only be used if the chemical sanitizer level can be verified to 100 ppm chlorine AND the contact time of the rinse cycle is 1 full minute o If this cannot be verified, after removal from the dishwasher, all dishes should be dipped in an approved sanitizer (verified to be 100 ppm chlorine), followed by proper air drying. 
  • Three Compartment sinks may be filled using only water that has been boiled as required or is from a potable water source (i.e. bottled water). Use your test strips to verify that sanitizer in the 3rd sink basin is at the proper concentration. Keep in mind that too much sanitizer can be toxic.