Drinkable water to be restored by mid-December. Multiple factors at play, another warns.

Posted on by Blue Ridge Public Radio
Photo courtesy of City of Asheville

By Laura Lee

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Water restoration in the City of Asheville has a long-awaited timeline, according to Asheville City Council member Maggie Ullman.

In an Instagram video posted Friday morning, Ullman said there is a “Plan B” if the aluminum sulfate treatment (alum) treatment does not sufficiently reduce the sediment at the North Fork Reservoir. The plans will bring “an end to this crisis, hell or high water,” she said.

The Army Corps of Engineers will build mobile filtration systems all along the dam, City Water Resources spokesperson Clay Chandler confirmed to BPR. The temporary filters are designed to reduce the sediment in the water enough to allow it to be pumped into the regular filtration system.

The mid-December timeline set by the Corps is a “best-case scenario,” Chandler said.

The Corps is “reasonably certain” that they can treat 25 million gallons of water a day, Chandler said. The Corps expects to build out the mobile filtration system in 35 days. They are about two days into the work, and the timeline presumes no delays from weather or construction.

“The target right now is to begin pushing nothing but potable water into the system sometime around Thanksgiving,” Chandler said. Even after the water is in the filtration system, customers should expect to continue to be under a boil water notice for at least 10 days to two weeks as the system flushes.

The alum treatment will continue at North Fork as planned, Chandler said. Water resources does not expect the treatment would interfere with the alternative plan by the Army Corps.

“I’m gonna celebrate that unknown is now known,” Ullman said.

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