A ban on tap water tainted by a chemical spill in West Virginia has been partially lifted, the state's governor has said.
Some 300,000 people in the state have been forced to wash, cook and brush their teeth with bottled water for five days straight after the leak from a tank into a Charleston river.
Governor Earl Tomblin announced on Monday the ban was being lifted in increments.
"The numbers we have today look good and we are finally at a point where the 'do not use order' has been lifted," Mr Tomblin said.
Officials are lifting the ban in a strict, methodical manner to help ensure the water system is not overwhelmed by excessive demand.
Downtown Charleston was the first area where officials cleared the use of tap water, with the ban expected to be gradually lifted for customers farther away from the city over time.
Customers are being asked to flush out their systems before using the water again, and officials cautioned that the water could still have an odour, but it is safe.
Questions remain over how and why the leak occurred and whether the company which owns the tank, Freedom Industries, took too long to let officials know about the problem.
Tests over the weekend showed that levels of the liquorice-smelling chemical used in coal processing were consistently below the toxic threshold. More tests are expected to be conducted.
Water distribution centres handed out bottled water and trucks with large tanks filled up containers for people to take home as the ban remained in place.
So far, 10 people exposed to the contaminated water have been admitted to the hospital. None of them were in a serious condition.
About 28,400 litres of the chemical, called 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, is believed to have leaked from a tank and containment area.
Some of it got into the Elk river and the water treatment plant downstream.
The chemical quickly dissolves in water, so people have had to wait for it to pass through the water system or be diluted to the point where the water is again safe.
It is not deadly, but can cause skin irritation, rashes, vomiting and diarrhoea.
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