Boil water advisories for Washington, DC, and Arlington County, Virginia, have been lifted

CNN — Precautionary boil water advisories for Washington, DC, and Arlington County were lifted Thursday morning, after local authorities announced water quality never deviated from safety standards.

The advisory was issued Wednesday by the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority and Arlington County due to an increase in algae blooms in the Potomac River, as the nation’s capital prepared for its annual Fourth of July celebrations.

Affected areas included Washington, DC, Arlington County, the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery and Reagan National Airport.

Residents – who were told to consume only boiled or bottled water under the advisory – can now use tap water for all purposes “after it was confirmed that drinking water provided by the Washington Aqueduct never deviated from U.S. EPA established water quality standards as had been anticipated,” DC Water said.