Orange County NC Website
A broken water pipe discovered Friday morning leaked up to 1.5 million gallons after a <br />fluoride overfeed at the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant on Thursday forced <br />OWASA to start getting water from Durham. <br />[UNC-Notre Dame moved to Sunday in Greensboro amid Chapel Hill water shortage] <br />[Chapel Hill residents stock up on bottled beverages and hope for the best] <br />[Water woes leave Franklin Street bars and restaurants empty] <br />That water is going into storage tanks until OWASA can make sure its water is safe and <br />can refill its tanks to provide sufficient pressure to operate the system. <br />That will take “at least one or two days,” spokesman Greg Feller said Friday evening. <br />“We do not have an estimate.” <br />The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon. <br />The declaration allows emergency steps to be taken and funding to be used where <br />needed, officials said. It also is the first step in seeking state and federal support, if <br />necessary. <br />Town and county officials are working to bring bottled water and portable toilets to local <br />shelters and public housing and senior housing residents, who may not be able to bring <br />in their own emergency supplies. Residents may also donate bottled water by bringing it <br />to the Chapel Hill Community Center at 120 S. Estes Drive. <br />Harris Teeter said Friday evening that water would be available free at three Chapel Hill <br />stores and one in Carrboro. One- or three-gallon jugs would be limited to three per <br />person, the grocery chain said. <br />Orange County Health Department Director Colleen Bridger ordered all restaurants to <br />close Friday afternoon. She stressed that OWASA customers should use only bottled <br />water until further notice. <br />“Do not drink the water. Do not use it for personal hygiene,” Bridger said at a press <br />conference Friday afternoon. “Do not use it under any circumstance.” <br />Residents with questions can call Orange County emergency officials at 919-245-6111, <br />send a text message to 888777 with the phrase “owasawater” in the message line, and <br />get updates on Twitter @ocncemergency.