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<br /> <br />OWASA issues urgent message to stop using <br />water <br />BY FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS | PUBLISHED 02/03/17 11:09AM <br />Photo by Nile Iverson / The Daily Tar Heel <br /> <br />UPDATE (4:49 p.m.): It will be about 24 hours before OWASA will know if the water in <br />Chapel Hill and Carrboro is safe to drink, Executive Director Ed Kerwin said. <br />The Orange County Health Department asks that OWASA customers not use the water <br />under any circumstances, because its safety cannot be gu aranteed. <br />Because of the break in the water main Friday morning, storage tanks dropped to a very <br />low level. OWASA is asking that customers not drink the water because there is a <br />possibility that it is contaminated. They will have test results back in abou t 24 hours. <br />OWASA will continue to receive drinking water from the City of Durham to increase their <br />storage of safe drinking water. In the meantime, OWASA is working to move in drinking <br />water from the Town of Hillsborough and the Chatham County system. <br />Kerwin said he expects it to be at least 48 hours before the OWASA plant in Carrboro is <br />producing drinking water. <br />Orange County Emergency Services is working to set up points of distribution of bottled <br />water. Donations can be taken to Chapel Hill Community Center at 120 S. Estes Dr. <br /> <br />UPDATE (2:37 p.m.): According to an Alert Carolina, Lenoir Dining Hall is closed, but <br />Rams Head Dining Hall will stay open until 5 p.m.