The water system that serves Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC-Chapel Hill experienced a water main break Monday, marking the second time in two years a broken pipe has caused a major disruption.
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority , which serves more than 80,000 customers, issued a boil advisory Monday and asked customers to limit their use of water.
“Please use water for essential needs only to ensure the community has water for emergency requirements,” the university said in a news release Monday evening.
“System pressure remains low in some areas.” Be the first to know.
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We must conserve the community’s water supply in case of emergency requirements.” A water main going to the Orange Water And Sewer Authority’s storage tanks broke on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018, and the agency asked customers in Carrboro, Chaperl Hill and the University of North Carolina to cut use back to drinking and hygiene uses until crews could find and fix the break.
Orange Water and Sewer Authority UNC hospital facilities in Chapel Hill suspended elective surgery Monday.
Ambulances with emergency patients were being directed to other area hospitals, UNC said.
Read Next Water ban deals a $471,479 hit to Chapel Hill-Carrboro hotels Read Next Reports: Human, system errors, excessive pressure on burst pipe caused Orange County water emergency Read Next OWASA restarts water treatment plant, advises customers to conserve While OWASA was handling the Feb. 3, 2017, overfeed, it suffered one of the worst water main breaks in its history, losing 1.2 million gallons of water through a broken 12-inch pipe.
A major water main break occurred outside of OWASA’s Jones Ferry Road water treatment plant early Monday morning.

The Village of Morse Water System has issued a boil water advisory due to a mechanical error with its water system.
The advisory is to remain in effect until rescinded by the Water System.

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CARRBORO, N.C. (WNCN) – A water main break at an OWASA treatment plant has shut down a road, will require customers to limit their water use, resulted in a Boil Water Advisory and is closing city schools, according to officials.
A main water line leaving the company’s Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant broke Monday morning.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will be closing early Monday due to the water main break, officials announced.
All customers in Chapel Hill and Carrboro will need to limit water use to only essential purposes, according to officials.
The main break is draining OWASA’s water storage and crews are on-site trying to isolate the issue.
Due to the issues, UNC-Chapel Hill had to close their retail/food operations with some exceptions.
According to the school’s dining services Twitter account, the operations that remain open are Chase, TOL, Beach Cafe, McColl Cafe, Blue Ram, Raynor, Law Bar, Atrium, and Genomic.
OWASA customers should boil any tap water before drinking it.

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Yes, ContinueNo Carrboro, N.C. — A leak in front of a water utility company in Carrboro Monday morning was forcing large amounts of water onto the road in front of it.
Video showed water gushing from the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) plant onto Jones Ferry Road.
Police have blocked off the road in front of the plant, which is located at 400 Jones Ferry Road.
According to Ed Kerwin, the executive director of OWASA, the central water main in front of the facility burst and the plant is losing water at a rapid rate.
Kerwin is urging Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents to use water on an essential basis until the problem is corrected.
Officials originally stated the water was safe to drink but later issued a boil advisory for those residents.

A boil-water advisory has been lifted for the community of Deline.
According to a news release issued Friday, the NWT’s chief environmental health officer had lifted the nine day old precautionary advisory.
Residents of of Deline were asked to boil their water due to higher than normal turbidity, or muddy water levels.
The health officer says there have been no illnesses associated with drinking water reported in the community.
Residents are now advised to run all cold water faucets and drinking fountains for at least one minute before use.
They should also flush and clean all water-using equipment such as coffee makers and ice-making machines for at least one minute.
Residents should also drain and refill hot water heaters and drain and clean water-holding tanks.

Residents urged to boil water following power outage at chlorinator OXFORD, N.S.
– Oxford is issuing a boil water order for its water utility customers.
All customers are to boil any water for at least one minute for any water to be used for drinking, ice cubes, washing food, brushing teeth or any other activity requiring human or domestic animal consumption until advised further.
This is due to the lack of power to the chlorination plant in Little River.
Once the plant is back in operation, notice will issued as to when the boil order will be removed.
Power is still out at various locations across Cumberland County.
At the peak of Saturday night’s windstorm, more than 8,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power.
The peak gust recorded overnight at Nappan was 102 km/h.
The wind knocked down trees and branches and tore shingles off numerous roofs.
The storm also closed the Trans-Canada Highway across the Tantramar Marsh between Aulac and Sackville, N.B.

The City of Mathis is under a water boil advisory.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is advising all residents to boil water before drinking because of a line break.
The TCEQ recommends residents bring water to a vigorous boil and then boiled for two minutes before consuming.
Residents of Mathis are asked to frequently check the city’s web page for updates about when the boil notice will be lifted.

The things people are complaining about, he said, are mostly due to the MRWA improving the water system.
DEP steps in, water authority must submit ‘corrective action plan’ The state DEP has been keeping a close watch over the MRWA since the events of January 2018 that Yost calls a “critical condition.” At that time, the system was experiencing water outages due to extremely low water supply and the water was not safe to drink, so MRWA issued a boil water advisory.
During the weeks of Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, MRWA was installing pressure reducing valves and meter pits in different locations within the water system.
Mountaintop residents: water is ‘not in any condition to drink’ Though MRWA is required by law to notify its customers before doing work on the system, Melanie Hockenberry said she never got such alerts.
Dana Tumbleson, who works for and is a resident of Snow Shoe Township, said he and his family “buy bottled water for our own sake.” They don’t allow their animals to drink the water from the system, instead opting to give them water from mountain springs in the area.
Tumbleson, too, said he knows the water authority is doing all it can to fix the leaks in the system and get the water level higher.
Authority acknowledges problems with communication The Mountaintop water authority alerts its customers of any work being done on the system through an emergency notification and alert system called SwiftReach, said Yost.
But while the authority has tried to make sure it has updated phone numbers for its customers, Yost said it is missing new contact information for many people.
Typically, said Yost, if the water authority knows ahead of time when and where maintenance crews would be doing work on the system, they will notify customers who are shown to live in that area where work is happening.
But sometimes, there is an emergency leak and no time to notify all the customers that work is being done, said Yost.

A boil water order has been lifted in the City of Dauphin.
The city had warned residents Thursday to boil their tap water before drinking or cooking with it after samples showed the presence of total coliform bacteria.
Total coliform bacteria live in soil, surface water, and human and animal waste.
The ban was lifted Saturday after Manitoba’s medical officer of health gave the city’s water system a clean bill of health.
"The City of Dauphin water system and Eclipse water distribution system have met all conditions for rescinding the precautionary boil water advisory and that bacteriological testing results meet regulatory standards," reads a letter from Dr. Denise Koh sent to the city.
"I am therefore rescinding the precautionary boil water advisory."

Residents urged to boil water following power outage at chlorinator OXFORD, N.S.
– Oxford is issuing a boil water order for its water utility customers.
All customers are to boil any water for at least one minute for any water to be used for drinking, ice cubes, washing food, brushing teeth or any other activity requiring human or domestic animal consumption until advised further.
This is due to the lack of power to the chlorination plant in Little River.
Once the plant is back in operation, notice will issued as to when the boil order will be removed.
Power is still out at various locations across Cumberland County.
At the peak of Saturday night’s windstorm, more than 8,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power.
The peak gust recorded overnight at Nappan was 102 km/h.
The wind knocked down trees and branches and tore shingles off numerous roofs.
The storm also closed the Trans-Canada Highway across the Tantramar Marsh between Aulac and Sackville, N.B.