AUSTIN, Texas — A four-day water boil notice was lifted on Tuesday night. Before that, some businesses found themselves closing their doors, others boiling gallons of water trying to keep up with customers.
Malone Specialty Coffee has four locations in the Austin area, and they go through more than 100 gallons of water a day. Owner Paul Malone said this is the third water boil notice they've had to endure.
Luckily, three of his locations are trailers, and he was able to stock them up with gallons of water before the water boil notice. However, his brick-and-mortar location wasn't so lucky. Most of the machines are connected to Austin's water system, so Malone had to be as resourceful as he could.
"We brought in a brewer that was not connected to the grid, so we were able to do hot coffee," he said.
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While they were able to continue selling coffee, only having that functioning machine slowed them down. They weren't able to sell their usual drinks, like lattes and espressos. They lost about 30% of the business.
"A cup of coffee costs about $2, $2.50, whereas a latte is normally $4, $5," he said. "You take that hit there, and then some customers did leave because they were really looking for that Austin dream, which is one of our really awesome mocha."
In a press release, Mayor Steve Adler said the council will meet next week so the city manager can answer any questions or concerns the public may have about the water boil notice.
In the meantime, Malone is happy everything is back to how it used to be.
"I'm glad it didn't go on any longer than it did," said Malone. "I was ready to serve lattes again today."
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