If you don’t live or work in the city limits, you may have missed that Asheville was on a 24-hour boil water advisory this past weekend. The precautionary advisory came after work was done to upgrade critical waterline infrastructure as part of the North Fork Waterline Bypass Project.
While the advisory was planned by the City, it caused issues for some residents and businesses. Grocery store shelves were emptied of bottled water and some restaurants closed at usually high-traffic times. City officials alerted people via the AVL Alert system, which sends a text and email to enrolled residents. Sign up here. You can also get updates on advisories via the City’s website.
This isn’t the first boil water advisory or water issue related to this project. So what work is actually being done, and what’s up with the water?
The project
- Research began in 2016 to improve the North Fork Reservoir in Black Mountain, which provides over 70% of Asheville’s drinking water, and to the dam, which was built in 1955. The dam is 130 ft. high and 220 ft. long, and collects water from a 20-mile watershed in the Black Mountains. Construction started in 2018, but was delayed due to prolonged, heavy rainfall. All work should be completed by summer of 2020.
- Over the course of the project, the North Fork Dam was raised four inches, an auxiliary spillway was added, and the water treatment plant was improved.
- The goal of the improvements is to reinforce the reservoir and dam against natural disasters and extreme storms and weather, like earthquakes and floods, and to increase the dam’s spillway capacity to 72,000 cubic feet per second (from 24,000). Water will flow over the auxiliary spillway after a 200-year storm event (a storm that has a .5% chance of occurring in any given year). Ultimately, we’ll have stronger, safer system in place that will better withstand future stress.
- While discolored water this past spring was related to this project, water outages and boil water advisories in September were related to an emergency waterline repair – not to this work. The City has increased waterline flushing to minimize discolored water.
The most recent work
Last week, the City completed a tie-in of a 36-inch transmission line near the dam that will improve the water delivery system and prevent a system-wide loss if Asheville gets severely flooded (which happened in 2004). Water travels through the transmission lines to the water treatment plant, where it’s made safe to drink.
Water was temporarily shut off during this installation, and the City issued a boil water advisory for 24 hours (Saturday through Sunday) as a precaution while the city tests it for bacteria before giving the all-clear – which they always do if water pressure drops or if there is a water main break. During boil water advisories, residents should boil water vigorously for one minute before drinking or cooking with it. FYI – A boil water advisory is voluntarily issued when contamination is possible, while a boil water notice means that contamination has been confirmed, and is required by law to be issued. No contaminants were found in the water after testing.
The advisory has ended but customers could still see discolored water and pressure issues. You should run water for 5-10 minutes, or until it’s clear. If it’s not clear after 30 minutes, call 828-251-1122 to report it. DYK: The City of Asheville tests water quality several times each day.
Next up
Another water outage and boil water advisory could occur on Nov. 22 after a second, similar installation.
What color is your water?
The City created a guide to water discoloration that identifies whether Iron or Manganese might be responsible for those color changes. Plus, it includes protips on how to clean stained sinks, tubs + toilets.