Nearly 48 hours after residents in southern Orange County were told their water was unsafe, things are effectively back to normal.

Orange Water and Sewer Authority announced on Sunday morning that all OWASA operations are back to normal and the utility’s water storage tanks are full.

That was welcome news after a tumultuous few days. Trouble began on Thursday when OWASA discovered an accidental overfeed led to a higher level of fluoride in the water at the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment plant. Water was then brought in from the City of Durham while the OWASA plant was shut down for cleaning. Residents were only being asked to conserve water as of Friday morning.

And then a 12” water main broke in northeast Chapel Hill.

That led to what OWASA executive director Ed Kerwin described on Friday afternoon as a “worst case scenario.”

The water at the OWASA plant was unsafe and the water being brought in from Durham had suffered a major loss and interruption of service.

Do Not Use and Do Not Drink orders left residents searching for bottled water anywhere they could find it. Harris Teeter’s four locations in Chapel Hill and Carrboro gave out water for free on Friday night to those impacted. Water distribution sites were set up on Saturday.

And then good news came with the first round of testing results on Saturday afternoon. And residents were told they could use the water again but were still cautioned to conserve water where available.

But on Sunday morning, after an additional round of water testing was completed, OWASA announced all operations were back to normal with the OWASA plant once again providing standard levels of drinking water.

A boil water advisory for residents near Foxcroft Drive was also lifted on Sunday.

After being forced to close down by the Orange County Health Department on Friday, restaurants and hotels served by OWASA were allowed to reopen on Saturday afternoon, just ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.

OWASA officials say they are investigating the fluoride overfeed and water line break. The results of the investigations will be reported to the OWASA Board of Directors at an upcoming public meeting.