A restaurant should follow the utility’s exact advisory and consult Maricopa County Environmental Services about affected food operations. Separate drinking, food preparation, ice, handwashing and warewashing; their controls are not interchangeable. The adopted Food Code’s imminent-hazard and reopening rules still apply. A filter or boiling water for drinks does not establish approval for every operation.
Which operations need separate decisions?
Make a checklist rather than treating the kitchen as one water outlet:
| Operation | Question to resolve with the authority and equipment instructions |
|---|---|
| Drinks and ingredient water | What approved alternate supply is available? |
| Produce or food washing | Can the approved process continue with that supply? |
| Ice and connected dispensers | Was ice produced during the affected period, and what must be stopped? |
| Handwashing | What does the local advisory and health authority allow? |
| Warewashing | Can the actual approved machine or manual process meet its requirements? |
| Cleaning | What water and sanitation controls apply to affected food-contact areas? |
CDC's public advisory guidance includes household dishwashing information. Do not substitute that guidance for approval of a restaurant's commercial warewashing process. Follow the locally adopted food rules and the equipment's actual operating requirements.
Does a filter solve the advisory?
An ordinary taste or sediment filter is not permission to use affected water for food or drinks. CDC instructs people to boil tap water during a boil-water advisory even after a home filter. The treatment needed depends on the hazard and the official notice.
Stop water-connected ice production while resolving the advisory. Use the ice-machine restart checklist for the equipment handoff. Existing commercial kitchen filtration guidance addresses routine equipment matching, which is a separate question.
When must operations stop or resume?
Maricopa County adopts FDA Food Code 2017. Section 8-404.11 addresses imminent health hazards, with exceptions for unaffected areas and specified outages handled under an approved emergency operating plan. Ask the Department which operations and controls it accepts for this event.
If operations are discontinued under that rule or law, Section 8-404.12 requires authority approval before resuming. Keep the notice, food-operation decisions and clearance record together. Loss of water service and hot-water failure need separate checks. For the underlying sink and protection requirements, see restaurant health inspections and the county plan-review checklist.