GEORGETOWN, Texas — Starting Aug. 1, Georgetown utility customers will receive a text message letting them know they are enrolled in the city’s real-time water outage texting service, according to a news release from the city.

Once the texting service launches, enrolled customers will receive real-time updates via text message to and from (512) 930-3640, according to the city. However, water outages must still be reported by phone by calling (512) 930-3640 and press 1, the release said. The city said its phone system will recognize the number if it’s tied to the utility account.

According to the city, customers should still track water and electric outages on the city’s online outage maps and only report outages not already reflected on the maps. Furthermore, the city will text customers about water outages, and customers can send text messages to the system to learn about status updates, the release said.

“We are proud to expand our outage texting service to our water customers,” City Manager David Morgan said. “Providing real-time updates to our utility customers is critical to ensuring our residents have the information they need to remain safe, and we know our customers are looking forward to having a more automated process to learn updates about outages.”

The city will automatically sign up residents using the phone number(s) associated with their utility account(s), the release said. Customers will also be able to enroll by texting WATER to (512) 930-3640, according to the city.

The city previously launched TextPower to its electric customers in April 2023, the release said. Unlike the water texting service, electric utility customers can report outages via text to (512) 930-8400, according to the city.

To read more about the electric services, visit the city’s website.