JEA customers claim they never got notification of water boil advisory

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Update: 8.27.22 9:00 a.m.

Karen McAllister with JEA hopes to lift the advisory Sunday morning. She stated that JEA requires 48 hours of clear testing before they would be able to lift the advisory.

Original Story:

Like many others, Chris Thomas dashed to Publix Friday evening to pick up bottled water. It came after JEA issued a boil water advisory for more than 19,000 customers.

But Thomas says his apartment complex and a friend told him about the water advisory — not JEA.

“I pay my bill online and everything, and I get emails and stuff about energy conservation and whatnot, but I didn’t get an email about the boil advisory,” he said.

Sydney Gayle also says she didn’t hear anything from JEA; instead, she found out through her homeowner’s association.

“I just hope they get this resolved and going forward if this happens again, there’s better communication,” she said.

READ: Boil water advisory issued for the Sandalwood, Town Center, Tinseltown areas

JEA told Action News Jax Friday afternoon it contacted all impacted customers by text, yet several users on Twitter also said they hadn’t heard a thing.

Action News Jax asked JEA CEO Jay Stowe why some people hadn’t heard from the utility.

“The process that we go through to try to make sure everybody is informed as they can — and even talking to you is part of that — to let the general public know and those people that are in those affected areas know what’s going on. And we’ll continue to put that out there, and be sure that we’re trying to stay on top of that,” Stowe said.

Other affected places included the University of North Florida. A spokesperson there said the university sent texts and emails to all students and staff, adding that leaders also posted signs throughout campus.

As for Thomas, he’s just glad people in his community looked out for one another and spread the word.

“I guess it’s up to us to keep each other safe,” he said.

JEA said Friday afternoon that the boiling water advisory would last at least 24 hours.

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