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Where Does Our Water Come From ? PAGE 2 The Carrboro - Chapel Hill community uses water from three surface water reservoirs : 6 University Lake , which can hold about 450 million gallons ; f the Cane Creek Reservoir, which has a capacity of 3 billion gallons ; and 6 the Stone Quarry Reservoir, which holds about 200 million gallons . Water from Cane Creek and University Lake is pumped directly to the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant in Carrboro . Water from the stone quarry reservoir can be pumped to University Lake via Phil ' s Creek . Please see page 4 for information on the water treatment process . In addition to these sources , OWASA has water line connections with the City of Durham and the Town of Hillsborough , and OWASA has a water allocation from Jordan Lake for future emergency use if necessary. Watershed Boundary C " ne Cr : se r lot 1 4o n , FF CHAPEL RM ALAMANCE S e Qua rye �• S Y ., ih , + t1 �C 10 rvoir S� COUNTY A s � Sco �5 ��f ; tif ; x j �a I . wr;� f _ , ? i ; l r slxa ?rY'y P.r RIY F T t FF 'T F . LF ORANGE COUNTY nive ity DURHAM Or COUNTY o I h CHATHAM COUNTY J5 Where does cowaminatim Watershed protection : cottte f•om ? the first line of defense for our water supplies . The sources of drinking water ( both tap water To help protect the quality of our water supplies , the Orange County, and bottled water ) include rivers , lakes , Carrboro and Chatham County governments have adopted devel - streams , ponds , reservoirs , springs and wells , opment standards and limits for University Lake and Cane Creek As water travels over the surface of the land " watershed areas within their planning jurisdictions . The develop - or through the ground , the water dissolves ment standards are designed to reduce the amount of pollution naturally occurring minerals and , in some carried in stormwater to the reservoirs . Several studies in the U . S . cases , radioactive material , and can pick up have shown that pollution in stormwater is related to the amount substances resulting from the presence of of development and impervious surfaces , animals or human activity. Contaminants that may be present in source The Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Town of water before it is treated include : microbial Carrboro Board of Aldermen adopted stronger standards for the contaminants such as viruses and bacteria , University Lake watershed in the early 1990s after a technical study which may come from sewage treatment commissioned by OWASA . In the fall of 1999 , Orange County plants , septic systems , agricultural livestock adopted new development standards for the Cane Creek water- operations and wildlife ; inorganic contami - shed after a technical study by OWASA and a 3 -year public dis - pants such as salts and metals , which can cussion process , be naturally occurring or result from stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater dis - The standards adopted by Orange County and the Town of charges , oil and gas production , mining or Carrboro limit most development to a density of one dwelling unit farming ; pesticides and herbicides , which per 5 acres , with a limited number of 2 - acre lots allowed in some may come from a variety of sources such as cases . In addition , new commercial development is stringently lim - agriculture , stormwater runoff and residential ited . uses ; organic chemical contaminants includ - ing synthetic and volatile organic chemicals , Last fall , the Chatham County Commissioners also adopted new which are by- products of industrial processes standards which limit development to one dwelling unit per 2 acres and petroleum production , and can also come for the part of University Lake watershed in Chatham County. ( The from gas stations and stormwater runoff; and previous standard was one residence per acre . ) . radioactive contaminants , which can be natu - rally- occurring the result of oil and gas pro- OWASA commends the local governing boards for their actions duction and mining activities . to protect the public water sources through these standards . ;44: . .