Water production facility begins producing water; Water available for those most vulnerable

Press release from the city of Asheville:

The southern water treatment facility is back online as of noon today (December 28) and is producing water for distribution. Restoration of service will take time and we anticipate returning to full service soon.

Since December 24, staff have been working around the clock to restore service caused by two main events. Extremely cold temperatures over many days created unusual strain at a water treatment facility which ultimately led to a halt in production. Additionally, multiple water line breaks on private and public property caused significant losses of water within the system.
The system will have to normalize pressure as water begins flowing through the water line infrastructure. Customers may still experience no water or low pressure as this process continues.

Water crews remain in the field repairing leaks. At this time, over a dozen main water line breaks have been repaired. Identified leaks will be marked by a safety cone or the word “locate” to let the public know that the leak has been identified or reported.

Water for those most vulnerable

• Two approaches are in place to ensure those who do not have water will receive drinking water. The first approach is responsive to community members who have requested water from N.C. 2-1-1, and the second is proactive by delivering water to distribution points identified through our climate justice map. Thank you to the City’s Parks & Recreation Department, Asheville Fire Department, the Asheville Development Services Department, N.C. 2-1-1, and multiple fire departments from across Buncombe County who are working to distribute water.
• As of 4 p.m. on December 28, over 100 requests have been made through N.C. 2-1-1 and over 80 deliveries of requested drinking water have been made. Additionally, there have been over 140 deliveries proactively made to those identified by the climate justice map. These drinking water delivery efforts will continue through 7 p.m. tonight and will begin again by 9 a.m. Thursday, December 29.
• Calls can still be made to N.C. 2-1-1 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. to request water delivery to those who are unable to get water for themselves. This includes elderly and disabled, those without transportation, and those experiencing financial hardship.
• The City has been in contact with grocery and retail stores who are ordering extra supplies and deliveries have been made this afternoon, Wednesday, December 28.

Boil Water Advisories

• Parts of the western service area are now (12/28 at 1 p.m.) included in a Boil Water Advisory. The advisory includes these areas: west of Johnson School Blvd. to Dogwood Rd. in Candler, as well as Smokey Park Hwy. to 19/23 through Candler.
• Customers in the southern distribution area are still under a Boil Water Advisory. The affected areas are south of Swannanoa River Road to Airport Road and from the Fairview community to Highway 191/Brevard Road.
• All advisories will be lifted when water quality testing has confirmed no bacteria is present in the water.
• Customers will receive a message notifying them when the Boil Water Advisory has been lifted via Asheville Alert. Sign up for AVL Alert at this link

What can all customers – residents and businesses – do to help?

Mandatory water conservation measures are still in place. Here is what the public can do:

• Minimize or delay processes that use large quantities of water.
  Take shorter showers.
• Do not wash your car.
• Delay doing laundry.
• Delay running the dishwasher.
• Do not drip faucets.

In areas where there is no water, please check on your neighbors and the elderly.

If you see a leak in your area, please email egovutility@ashevillenc.gov, report issues from the Asheville App, or call the customer service line at 828-251-1122. Due to high call volumes, wait times will be longer than is typical for the customer service line.

How can I stay up to date with the water outage?

Ongoing updates related to the water outage will be posted to the City website and on City social media.

To receive alerts on your phone through text and phone call, please sign up for AVL Alert.