What should our HOA board do at the pool, clubhouse and drinking fountains during a boil water notice?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 25, 2026

Boil water notice at the HOA pool, clubhouse and fountains: what to shut off, ice and bottled water, TX and FL rules, and how to flush once the notice lifts.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Treat every outlet on common property that someone could drink from as unsafe until the notice is lifted. Bag or tape off the drinking fountains and bottle fillers, empty the ice machine and switch it off, unplug the coffee maker and any plumbed water cooler, and put out sealed bottled water where people expect a drink. The pool can often stay open, but that is a call for your pool operator and the local health authority, not a default. When the water system lifts the notice, flush the amenities in a set order before anyone drinks from them again. The board does not issue the notice and cannot shorten it. Its job is to make the common areas match what the notice tells owners to do at home. Rules differ by state, by county and by your governing documents, so treat this as general education, not legal advice.

Read the notice before you act on it

A boil water notice comes from whoever runs the public water system: the city, a utility district, or the state on its behalf. Get the actual text, not a neighbor's summary, and save it to the board's shared folder. Three details matter. First, the boundary. Notices often cover only certain streets or one pressure zone, and a clubhouse on a separate meter may sit outside it. Second, the boil time. CDC guidance is a rolling boil for 1 minute, or 3 minutes above 6,500 feet, which covers many mountain communities in Colorado. TCEQ's consumer guidance in Texas tells people to boil for two minutes. Florida's sample notice from the Department of Health says one minute. Quote whatever your notice says, word for word. Third, the type. A boil notice is not a do-not-drink or do-not-use notice, and boiling does not remove chemicals. If the notice says do not drink, bottled water replaces tap water for drinking and cooking, and if it says do not use, the amenities close.

How long it will last, in Texas and Florida

Boards always get asked when it will be over, and the honest answer is that the water system decides, after lab results. In Texas, 30 TAC 290.46(q) requires a public water system to issue a notice for conditions such as pressure below 20 pounds per square inch, and TCEQ says the notice must go out no later than 24 hours after the condition. Before lifting it, the system has to fix the problem, flush, show disinfectant levels back above the minimums, and get negative coliform results on special samples. In Florida, DOH guidance requires a notice in most cases when pressure in any part of the system drops to zero, and when it falls below 20 psi at critical facilities such as schools, nursing homes and food establishments. The issuing agency rescinds it after at least one day of satisfactory bacteriological results, with at least two samples for a main break, one upstream and one downstream. A bad first result means two consecutive clean days. So plan on one to three days for a routine break and tell owners that, without promising a date. For the most serious cases, such as E. coli in the water or a waterborne disease emergency, federal rule 40 CFR 141.202 requires Tier 1 public notice within 24 hours of the system learning of it.

Walk every outlet in the first hour

Send one person with a checklist, tape, plastic bags and printed signs. Go through the amenities in this order and write down what you did and when. Drinking fountains and bottle fillers: bag the spout and post a sign. Ice machine: discard the ice, switch it off, and tape the door. CDC's guidance for commercial settings says to throw out ice made before the advisory, stop making it, and use commercially made ice if you need any. Clubhouse kitchen: turn off the coffee maker, any plumbed water dispenser and the refrigerator's water and ice line, and put a sign over the sink saying the water is not for drinking or food prep. Fitness room: the water cooler is usually the outlet people forget, so shut it off too. Restrooms: CDC's commercial guidance recommends soap and disinfected water for handwashing and notes that alcohol gels do not kill Cryptosporidium, so post whatever your notice says about handwashing next to the sinks. Then put out sealed bottled water at the pool and the clubhouse. A case of bottles costs far less than a sick child and a complaint to the health department.

The pool and splash pad

No Texas, Florida or Colorado rule we found closes a pool automatically during a boil notice, so ask your local pool inspector or health department the same day and write down the answer and the name of the person who gave it. Three things drive the decision. Chlorine at normal levels kills most germs within minutes, but CDC says Cryptosporidium can survive more than 7 days in properly chlorinated water, so adding untreated water carries real risk. Avoid topping off the pool or splash pad during the notice if the level allows it, and if you must, ask your operator whether to raise chlorine first. Second, the drinking water rule. Texas 25 TAC 265.187(d) requires pools built on or after October 1, 1999 to keep at least one drinking fountain or other drinking water source, such as bottled water, available whenever the pool is open. With the fountain bagged, a cooler of sealed bottles keeps you in line with that rule. Third, backflow. Section 265.187(b) requires high hazard backflow protection, such as a reduced pressure principle assembly or an air gap, on the pool's water supply. If the notice followed a pressure loss, ask your operator to confirm the assembly was tested on schedule. Our guide on how to maintain an HOA splash pad covers the separate rules for interactive water features.

Events, rentals and the clubhouse kitchen

Look at the reservation calendar the day the notice goes out. Call anyone who booked the clubhouse during the notice period and tell them the kitchen water is off limits for drinking, cooking, making ice and washing dishes. Offer to move the date or let them bring bottled water, bagged ice and disposable plates. If the association runs a coffee hour or a board meeting with snacks, switch to bottled water and wrapped food. If your clubhouse kitchen operates under a county food permit, call the permitting agency, because permitted kitchens usually get their own instructions. CDC's commercial guidance says to throw out any ready-to-eat food made with tap water before the advisory and to stop serving drinks made with undisinfected water. Do not let a volunteer decide that a pot of coffee is fine because the water was hot. A drip coffee maker does not hold water at a rolling boil.

Flushing after the notice lifts

Wait for the rescission notice from the water system, then flush before reopening anything. CDC's commercial guidance says to run cold water faucets continuously for at least 5 minutes and to flush drinking fountains the same way. Its guidance for health facilities adds a useful test: keep flushing until you can detect chlorine. Then do the equipment. Empty the ice machine again, then clean and sanitize it following the manufacturer's instructions before making new ice. Change every point-of-use filter, including the bottle filler, the refrigerator and the coffee maker, and flush each outlet for several minutes before the new filter goes in. CDC also says to drain and refill water heaters set below 113 degrees F, which catches some small clubhouse heaters set low to save energy. Record each step on the same checklist you used at shutdown, sign it, and keep it with the notice. Only then take down the signs.

Wording to copy and a sample timeline

A text you can adapt: 'Cedar Ridge HOA: [water system] has issued a boil water notice for our area. Until it is lifted, do not drink from the pool or clubhouse fountains or use the clubhouse ice machine. Bottled water is at the pool and clubhouse. The full notice is attached. We will send an update when the system lifts it.' A closing message: '[Water system] lifted the boil water notice on [date]. The pool and clubhouse fountains, ice machine and filters have been flushed and replaced. Run your own cold taps for 5 minutes and follow the system's instructions for home ice makers.' Hour 0: notice received and saved, text sent. Hour 1: outlet walk done, bottled water out, renters called. Day 1: pool decision recorded with the health contact's name. Day 1 to 3: notice lifted by the system. Same day: flushing, filter changes, ice machine sanitized, closing message. The mistakes repeat. Boards rewrite the notice in their own words and get the boil time wrong. Nobody empties the ice bin. The fitness room cooler stays on. The signs come down the moment the notice lifts, before anyone flushes. If your association owns its own water system, the duty to issue the notice is yours, which our guide on how to run an HOA community water system covers, and our guide on what to do when a water main breaks on HOA property covers the break that often causes all of this.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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