****UPDATE: The Do Not Use order was lifted Saturday afternoon.****
Approximately 80,000 Orange County residents are under direction to not use their tap water.
“Essentially, a worst case scenario,” is how Orange Water and Sewer Authority executive director Ed Kerwin described the series of events that began late Thursday and left OWASA customers under orders that their water was off-limits.
An accidental overfeed of fluoride in the water at the OWASA Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant caused the initial issue on Thursday afternoon. OWASA began receiving water from the City of Durham at that time to continue supplying customers with high-quality drinking water.
OWASA had also asked customers to try and conserve as much water as possible.
And then on Friday morning a major water main break occurred in northeast Chapel Hill.
Kerwin said a break in the 12” line was devastating to the water supply in southern Orange County, where OWASA provides the water services. That break led to losing 1-1.5 million gallons of drinking water, according to Kerwin.
Kerwin said that was when officials decided to issue the order not to use the water for any purpose. Kerwin said this was intended to have a two-fold impact. One was to allow the water supply levels to stabilize and improve. But Kerwin said there was also concern the water was not safe to drink or use at all.
That message was reiterated by Orange County Health director Dr. Colleen Bridger.
The water shortage led both the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro to declare States of Emergency. Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools release students early and UNC was forced to cancel classes and close offices.
Also, the health department forced all restaurants and hotels that are served by OWASA to close because of the water shortage.
County officials said the priority at this time is to focus efforts on critical infrastructure, including the hospital, assisted-living facilities and emergency services.
Kerwin said at Friday afternoon’s press conference that officials had not had enough time to determine what caused the initial fluoride overfeed that began the series of events.
Kerwin said on Friday that it would be at least 24 hours before any type of testing could be done to determine if the water was safe for customers to begin using again.
Harris Teeter grocery store locations at Carr Mill Mall, Chapel Hill North, Meadowmont Village and University Place are offering those impacted by the shortage free water beginning at nine o’clock Friday night while supplies last.
Now that we’ve all bought water…