by Hope Ford, originally posted on February 04, 2017

CHAPEL HILL, NC – At least 80,000 people in Orange County are affected by a water shortage. Orange County officials said a ruptured water main in Chapel Hill caused supply issues Friday morning.

Authorities in Orange County said Saturday afternoon that water is now safe for drinking and other uses, but customers should limit the use because supplies are still low.

“(Officials) tested samples from across the service area to ensure the water is safe for public consumption,” Orange County Health Director Colleen Bridger said in a statement.

“All of the tests came back safe earlier this afternoon. In light of these results, Orange County Health Department is rescinding the do not use order. Restaurants and hotels are free to re-open. However, we encourage our residents to continue to practice water conservation strategies until OWASA’s storage has been replenished to normal levels.”

Despite the all clear for nearly all areas, officials said that residents in the Foxcroft Drive area are under a boil water advisory due to a broken water main. Residents will be notified when this precaution is no longer needed, officials said.

The boil water area includes 250 residents at the Midtown 501 apartments, officials said Saturday afternoon.

“Affected customers will be receiving a notice advising them to boil water before consuming it until we can confirm that the water quality is acceptable,” said Ed Kerwin, OWASA Executive Director. “We will know by 7 a.m. Sunday morning if the boil water advisory can be rescinded.”

Saturday morning residents were flocking to distribution sites for bottled water to help them through the crisis, which canceled schools Friday and even postponed a Saturday UNC Chapel Hill college basketball game.

The water distribution site McDougle Elementary ran out of supplies in just two hours Saturday morning.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger and Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle issued states of emergency for their towns on Friday.

On Saturday, authorities released a lengthy explanation of two incidents that combined to create the crisis.

The problems began Thursday when too much fluoride was pumped into an Orange County Water and Sewer Authority on-site tank, officials said in the statement.

“We immediately shut down water distribution from the water treatment plant, containing the fluoride overfeed at the plant,” officials said.

Orange County then began receiving water from Durham through a pipeline and called for conservation efforts.

Then, on Friday morning, a major water line broke and was not repaired until around noon.

The incident happened on the northeast side of Chapel Hill near Foxcroft Apartments, which was very close to the pipeline from  Durham.

At 2:15 p.m. Friday, the Orange County Health Department issued a notice directing residents not to use the water.

During this incident on Friday fire protection was not affected, authorities said.

Officials managed to open a water connection with Chatham County on Friday afternoon, which helped bring in at least 200,000 more gallons per day.

These are the water distribution areas open Saturday:

Town of Chapel Hill’s Southern Community Park – 1000 Sumac Road

Hargraves Community Center – 216 N Roberson Street

McDougal Elementary School — 890 Old Fayetteville Road

Carrboro High School — 201 Rock Haven Road