Orange County NC Website
Although some water remained in pipes around the neighboring towns of Chapel Hill and <br />Carrboro, it may be unsafe, he said. The towns have a combined population of about 77,000. <br />"Do not use it under any circumstance," Orange County Health Director Coleen Bridger said <br />at a news conference. "Do not drink it; do not use it." <br />Health department employees were visiting every restaurant and hotel directing them to <br />close, Bridger said. The men's basketball game between North Carolina and Notre Dame <br />scheduled for Saturday night was postponed to Sunday afternoon and moved to Greensboro. <br />Bottled water was being delivered to nursing homes, county emergency services director <br />Diana Jeffries said. <br />University housing officials said they were delivering portable toilets and bottled water to <br />on-campus residence halls. <br />The municipal water agency said supplies were critically low after an early morning break in <br />a major water delivery pipe. The utility had been getting its water from Durham after too <br />much fluoride was released into the water at one treatment plant Thursday. <br />The News & Observer of Raleigh reports (http://bit.ly/2l6Agkk) that federal guidelines <br />recommend adding 0.7 parts per million of fluoride to water supplies to help protect teeth <br />from cavities. OWASA normally adds that amount, said Dr. Tim Wright, chairman of the <br />department of pediatric dentistry at the UNC School of Dentistry. <br />The problem at the water treatment plant was adding up to 5 parts per million to the water. <br />At 2 and 3 parts per million, chronic or long-term fluoride exposure can damage tooth <br />formation prenatally and in children up to teenagers, Wright said. <br />At 4 parts per million, fluoride has been associated with hip fractures in post-menopausal <br />women, he said, adding that it takes years of exposure to high levels of fluoride for most <br />people to see such effects. Even people who drink fluoridated water, use fluoride toothpaste <br />and get fluoride treatments at the dentist are not getting enough of it to cause problems, he <br />said. <br />Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger declared an emergency. The town said its fire <br />department has contacted nearby agencies to be ready to bring water to fire scenes. <br />