7/15/2025 UPDATE:

Dewey city leaders are shutting off water to all customers beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The City said this is for a minor repair and it should take just a few hours.

The city manager told News On 6 that the repair is in a section of the system that is not able to shut down, so it was decided to shut the water off in the evening to mitigate the inconvenience.

"Thank you for your patience, understanding and cooperation during this unfortunate and unforeseen dilemma," the City shared in a social media post.

A mandatory boil order was in effect for residents in Dewey and nearby Bartlesville due to E. coli concerns, but it was finally lifted on Sunday by ODEQ. This outage impacting Dewey residents does not affect Bartlesville residents.

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Boil order lifted for residents in Bartlesville and Dewey

Boil order lifted for Bartlesville and Dewey after detection of E. coli and total coliform.

The mandatory boil order that impacted Bartlesville and Dewey has now been officially lifted. On Sunday, July 13, 2025, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) announced that updated test results show the public water supply is safe for consumption.

The original order was issued following a positive test for E. coli at one of the city’s 40 sampling sites. As a precaution, thousands of residents were told to boil tap water before drinking or using it for daily tasks. With new test results confirming the absence of harmful bacteria, residents can now resume normal water use.

Here’s a breakdown of what happened and what officials are saying now.

Q: Why was the boil order issued in the first place?

A: “Samples are taken quite often from public water supplies to ensure that the water is safe,” said Erin Hatfield, Communications Director for the Oklahoma DEQ. “In this case, routine samples were positive for E. coli and total coliforms. Repeat samples were then positive for total coliform, which triggers a mandatory boil order.”

Q: What was done to fix the problem?

A: “We are working directly with the system in hopes of getting this resolved as quickly as possible. Obviously, we want to make sure that those issues aren’t there before we lift that boil order. Public safety is paramount. We’ve authorized the system to immediately take more samples, and hopefully those will allow us to lift the boil order,” Hatfield said during the initial response.

Q: When was the boil order lifted?

A: As of Sunday evening, July 13, 2025, ODEQ confirmed the boil order was lifted after updated test results showed the water was safe at multiple sites throughout Bartlesville.

Q: What should residents do now?

The City of Bartlesville says normal water use can resume. That includes drinking tap water, cooking, brushing teeth, and washing dishes without boiling.