Timeline of OWASA and Orange Co. Health Department actions in February water emergency

08 Feb Timeline of OWASA and Orange Co. Health Department actions in February water emergency

Timeline of Actions Taken by OWASA and the Orange County Health Department in Regards to the February 2017 Water Emergency

On February 2, 2017, OWASA’s water supply was disrupted by an over-feed of fluoride at its water treatment plant on the west side of Carrboro; the contaminated water was contained within an onsite storage facility (the clearwell) and was not introduced to the public water distribution system. Water was initially supplied by the City of Durham and later by Chatham County interconnections to meet demand and maintain adequate storage volumes while the water treatment plant was out of service.

On February 3, 2017, in a separate but compounding event, a 12-inch water distribution main break occurred on the northeast side of Chapel Hill spilling more than a million gallons of water. Although, the break was quickly isolated, OWASA promptly issued a “DO NOT USE” directive due to concerns about its ability to maintain system pressures for water quality and firefighting needs. Shortly after, the Orange County Health Department issued “DO NOT USE” and “DO NOT DRINK” directives. These directives were not made because of excess fluoride in the drinking water.

Early afternoon on February 4, 2017, after tank levels rebounded and test results confirmed that the water was safe to drink, the “DO NOT USE” and “DO NOT DRINK” directives were lifted. Between then and when the water treatment plant was restored to service on the evening of February 4, 2017, the City of Durham and Chatham County connections continued to supply water to the OWASA distribution system, and OWASA customers were asked to use water only for essential purposes.

The following timeline for particular events during the water emergency is provided to make a record of the events and their timeline during the water emergency. This chronology was prepared from materials available to us as of 10:00 am Wednesday, February 8, 2017, and are subject to amendments and corrections as may be necessary in light of further investigation.

In order to ensure that critical public health messages reached as many of our customers as possible, multiple (and sometimes overlapping) channels were used to release news of changes in status.

Colleen Bridger, MPH, PhD                                        Ed Kerwin

Orange County Health Director                                 OWASA Executive Director