A third-party consultant has been hired by county executives to study the water crisis that brought life in Chapel Hill and Carrboro to an inconvenient crawl over four months ago.

Crisis Focus LLC will work with an established committee of local officials to review the plans that were executed in the wake of the crisis and make appropriate revisions.

This work will take place over the next several months, with a draft analysis scheduled for this Friday and document finalization occurring toward the end of September.

Community involvement in the review process is also expected to take place through online surveys, which will be made available by the consultant between June 20 and July 03.

Core capabilities and mission areas of the county that include mass care services, population resilience and public notification will also be examined during the process.

Residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro were advised in February by Orange Water and Sewer Authority to refrain from using municipal water due to a fluoride overfeed.

That error was confounded shortly thereafter by the rupture of a water line that forced all local restaurants and hotels to close due to a critical county water shortage.

Photo by OWASA.

Related Stories
‹
Orange County Asks for Feedback from February Water Crisis Response
Orange County residents now have a chance to give feedback to the agencies that responded to the water crisis in the southern portion of the county earlier this year. The approximately 80,000 customers served by Orange Water and Sewer Authority were without water for more than 24 hours in February. The crisis began with an […]
Public Meeting Scheduled Ahead of Underground Blasting for Rogers Road Sewer Project
A public meeting is set for Tuesday after officials from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County and Orange Water and Sewer Authority have decided to move forward with “low-intensity underground blasting” to remove rock as part of the Rogers Road Area Sewer Project. After decades of promises to extend the sewer lines to the historically black […]
Consultant Reviewing OWASA Response to Water Main Break
Orange Water and Sewer Authority officials are working to find out what happened earlier this week to cause a major water main break. The issue occurred early Monday morning and disrupted water availability across southern Orange County through Tuesday afternoon. “With so much water being lost, it made it impossible to safely access the valves […]
OWASA Lifts Boil Water Adivsory
OWASA officials said just before 4:30 p.m. that the boil water advisory for the area had been lifted. There are 75 customers who have been directly contacted, according to the utility, who will have to continue under a boil water advisory, but the rest of the service area is working at a normal capacity.**** […]
Some Improvements at OWASA Water Main Break, But UNC to Remain Closed Tuesday
OWASA officials said just after 7:30 p.m. Monday that the leak had been stopped and that water storage was approaching normal levels. Officials are continuing to urge residents to use water wisely. Toilets can be flushed. Customers are asked to take short showers.**** Orange Water and Sewer Authority reported seeing some improvements Monday evening […]
Hillsborough Supplying Water to Customers Impacted by OWASA Outage
Hillsborough has begun supplying water to the southern portion of the county serviced by Orange Water and Sewer Authority. OWASA suffered a significant water main break early Monday morning. The utility then asked customers to limit water use to essential purposes and then issued a boil water advisory. Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools and […]
Orange County Preparing for Election Day Amid OWASA Complications
Orange County elections officials say the county will be ready to go for Election Day regardless of issues caused by a water main break at the Orange Water and Sewer Authority facility in Carrboro. The water main break has caused closures across southern Orange County, including Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools and UNC – […]
Water Main Break Forces Closures Across Chapel Hill, Carrboro
Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools are closing early Monday due to complications from a water main break in Carrboro. The break also caused UNC – Chapel Hill to move to Condition 2 at 11:30 a.m. Monday. Classes are canceled and all non-mandatory operations are suspended through 11 p.m. Monday. Orange Water and Sewer Authority has […]
OWASA: Tap Water Safe if Hurricane Florence Causes Power Outage
Residents across central North Carolina have been searching for bottled water and other provisions ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Florence later this week. Orange Water and Sewer Authority said on Tuesday evening that tap water will remain safe to drink, even if the power is knocked out during the storm. OWASA is the […]
OWASA Resumes Fluoridating Drinking Water
Orange Water and Sewer Authority restarted the process of fluoridating drinking water for the service area across Chapel Hill and Carrboro on Monday. OWASA stopped fluoridating the water in February when a keystroke error from an operate caused a fluoride overfeed. A Do Not Use order was then issued for the approximately 80,000 residents who […]
›