Where there’s water, there’s OWASA. We are in every faucet, meter, manhole and local reservoir, so we consider ourselves members and stewards of the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community as much as we are the managers of the water supply. We want to serve you, not just your water needs.
From our recreation services to the Youth Water Academy and free tours of our facilities, OWASA wants to help you learn about our most vital resource — and have fun while doing so.
Tour OWASA
How does water get to your home, work or school? How is our water treated? What makes it safe to drink? What’s reclaimed water, and how is it used? If you’ve ever wondered about these topics and you’d like to know the answers to any of these questions — and so much more! — schedule a tour with OWASA. We offer free tours of the Jones Ferry Rd. Water Treatment Plant and the Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant at any point in the year, as well as Cane Creek Reservoir during the lake recreation season. Tours last about 45 minutes.
Gather some friends, classmates or a community group together and contact OWASA about touring our facilities. We’re happy to show you around!
Please fill out the form below if you are interested in touring OWASA.
Youth Water Academy
Local high school students are invited to apply for OWASA’s Youth Water Academy! The Academy introduces participants to the fascinating process of protecting, sourcing, treating and delivering the community’s water and wastewater. Over the course of five sessions, students learn from OWASA’s diverse and talented team of engineers, operators, distribution crews, scientists, administrative staff and more. They discover the behind-the-scenes workings to deliver safe and reliable water to the community — because water is vital to community development, sustainability, living healthy and having fun!
Click HERE to apply for OWASA’s Youth Water Academy for Fall 2024. For more information, email our Communications Specialist at bcarter@owasa.org or call 919-537-4277.
Water Wagon
On a hot summer day, as you stroll along the grounds of a Carrboro-Chapel Hill community event, keep your eyes peeled for the OWASA Water Wagon to get a drink of fresh, cool water and learn.
The Water Wagon appears at local arts festivals, school events and more. Staffed by volunteers from the OWASA team, it is a valuable resource and an interactive educational opportunity. Volunteers share information about water sources, treatment and conservation. When possible, we try to make our volunteer crews multilingual to make our information more accessible.
One of the favored features of the Water Wagon is the Water Wheel, a prize wheel granting the spinner water bottles, shower timers and other conservation materials. We also set out an OWASA doggie bowl, so that the whole family might quench their thirst.
There is no charge to book the Water Wagon. However, we receive many invitations to local community events. We are only able to deploy the Water Wagon approximately once per month.
For more information about the Water Wagon, email our Communications Specialist or call
(919) 537-4236.
Wonderful Water
We want to make water accessible to everyone in the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community. Not only do we want to literally bring water to you, we want to inspire your curiosity and help you learn more about the science and management of your water supply. That’s the goal of our Wonderful Water Educational Series.
Teaming up with local media, OWASA’s Wonderful Water Educational Series seeks to share information with the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community about our operations, facilities and the local water supply itself.
A prototype to Wonderful Water originated in 2015, when WUNC-TV broadcast a two-part series on the importance of clean water, including interviews with our staff and footage of OWASA facilities. Topics ranged from the water supply and treatment to reclaimed water and our biosolid recycling program.
Since then, we’ve partnered with local radio station 97.9 The Hill WCHL to produce Wonderful Water. The program is a monthly broadcast hosted by Andrew Stuckey, highlighting members of the OWASA team and community water ambassadors, and focusing on topics ranging from water treatment to conservation.
