Orange County NC Website
<br />North Carolina water system lifts do- <br />not-use status <br /> The Associated Press <br /> Feb 4, 2017 <br />CHAPEL HILL — The water that serves North Carolina’s flagship university is safe to <br />drink after a broken water main and problems at a water treatment plant forced the <br />school to cancel classes and led restaurants and hotels to close, health and utility <br />officials said Saturday. <br />The Orange County Health Department and Orange Water And Sewer Authority <br />announced that the water is safe for all uses, but also told customers to limit use because <br />supplies remain below normal. <br />Additionally, one Chapel Hill neighborhood is under a boil water advisory because of the <br />broken water main, which has since been repaired. <br />The water problems forced athletic officials to move Saturday’s men’s basketball game <br />between UNC-Chapel Hill and Notre Dame to Greensboro, where it will be played on <br />Sunday at 1 p.m. <br />The News & Observer of Raleigh reports (http://bit.ly/2ktxQNQ) the problem began <br />with a fluoride overfeed at a treatment plant. Fluoride is added to water to prevent tooth <br />decay but can be harmful in excessive amounts. <br />In addition, a broken main leaked up to 1.5 million gallons of water a day after the utility <br />began getting water from Durham following the overfeed. <br />Orange Water and Sewer Authority kept the over-fluoridated water from reaching its <br />distribution network, and by Friday Durham was sending water to the Orange Water <br />And Sewer Authority at the rate of about 7 million gallons a day, said Vicki Westbrook,