The Orange Water and Sewer Authority, as well as the Town of Hillsborough, will be disinfecting public drinking water with chlorine throughout the month of March.

Both local entities shared reminders to members of the community this week about the temporary change to their cleaning processes. OWASA and the Town of Hillsborough typically use a combination of chlorine and ammonia to disinfect water, but are told by state departments to clean with chlorine once a year. Both entities assured residents the change has no impact on the safety of residents’ drinking water, although OWASA warned dialysis patients and aquarium owners should continue to take special precautions to remove traces of ammonia and chlorine.

In order to ensure chlorine flows through the entire water system, both OWASA and Hillsborough will flush their respect systems. To do this, water from fire hydrants in the service area is periodically released. OWASA warned the flushing process may cause some discoloration of residents’ water, encouraging anyone experiencing it to run their taps for a few minutes. Hillsborough said crews will start the flushing process in the central part of the town before moving north and south simultaneously.

In its message to the community, OWASA said a slight taste difference may be detected. The service agency offered ways residents could neutralize the chlorine taste, such as refrigerating water in an open container, boiling water for one minute or adding lemon slices to poured water.

The full message from OWASA and the full message from the Town of Hillsborough can be found on their respective websites.

Photo via Town of Chapel Hill.

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