As noted in a previous Rice Alert, the city of Houston and part of Rice University's campus are currently under a boil water notice. All buildings that are east of Alumni Drive are serviced by the campus well and are not impacted by the boil water requirement (this includes all residential colleges and the Rice Memorial Center). All buildings west of Alumni Drive, with the exception of Kraft Hall, are impacted by the boil water notice.

Rice will be open and classes will be held as scheduled Monday, Nov. 28.

Toilets can flush in all buildings, and water can run in the sinks. Hand sanitizer is available in all buildings. Drinking water will be made available, as supplies permit, in the buildings with non-drinkable water. If you live off campus, you should be boiling your water until the city communicates that the water system is OK to drink.

Houston ISD will be closed Monday, which means that some faculty and staff will have child care issues. Staff should communicate with their supervisor if unable to come to work. Faculty should be accommodating with students that may be impacted due to the situation.

If you’re in one of the buildings without drinkable water, don’t drink from the water fountains, don’t use ice from the ice machines and don’t drink coffee from machines that are tied to the city’s water supply.

If you’re in a building with non-drinkable water, you can also fill containers with drinking water at the RMC. If you have additional needs for drinking water, contact the Housing and Dining Office at dining@rice.edu.

Campus events may continue as scheduled, provided the event coordinators make safe drinking water available as needed depending on the event’s location.

The city of Houston expects the boil water notice to be lifted by Tuesday. We will issue updates as the situation changes.

Rice Crisis Management