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OWASA Annual Report 3 <br /> January 29, 2019 <br /> Page 2 <br /> Hurricane Florence <br /> In the lead-up to Hurricane Florence, OWASA reviewed its response, safety, and staffing plans; <br /> secured back-up fuel and treatment chemicals; lined up contractors to assist with repairs as <br /> needed; assigned Incident Command responsibilities; and coordinated with community partners. <br /> On September 14, Florence made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 Storm. University <br /> Lake peaked at 54.5 inches above the spillway triggering the first stage in OWASA's Dam <br /> Emergency Action Plan(EAP). At this first stage, there is no real danger of the dam failing; <br /> however as per EAP protocol, OWASA notified Orange County Emergency Management, the <br /> dam's engineer, and the state. The State Department of Environmental Quality's Dam Safety <br /> Division inspected the dam and noted no issues. Cane Creek Reservoir's water levels peaked at <br /> 27.5 inches above the spillway; this did not require OWASA to activate the Dam EAP. OWASA <br /> responded to two water main breaks and restored service to affected community members (88 <br /> customers)within the day. Stormwater inadvertently entered the wastewater collection system <br /> resulting in one wastewater overflow(estimated at 8,300 gallons). <br /> Hurricane Michael <br /> With preparations for Hurricane Florence still intact, OWASA was ready for Hurricane Michael. <br /> On October 11, power outages started to occur in Carrboro and Chapel Hill. By 6:30 pm that <br /> evening, OWASA had twelve facilities running smoothly on back-up power generation: the Cane <br /> Creek Reservoir raw water pump station, the water and wastewater treatment plants, and 9 <br /> wastewater pumping stations. Throughout the storm, all water and wastewater systems remained <br /> fully operational. On October 13, recreation was closed at Cane Creek Reservoir due to power <br /> limitations. By October 14 at 1:15 pm,utility power was restored and we returned to normal <br /> operations at all locations. <br /> Jones Ferry Road Water Main Break <br /> On November 5, 2018, a water main break on Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro affected water <br /> storage levels and system pressure. Customers in OWASA's service area were asked to conserve <br /> water for 24 hours and boil water(before consuming it) for 31 hours. Immediately following the <br /> event, OWASA commissioned engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer to conduct an independent <br /> review of what caused the break and why it took 7.5 hours to stop the leak. According to Hazen <br /> and Sawyer, the root cause of the main break was a manufacturing defect in the pipe. The area <br /> where the pipe cracked was significantly thinner than other areas of the pipe. This defect, <br /> compounded with the age and material of the pipe,resulted in localized cracking. To stop the <br /> leak, OWASA had to close a series of valves. Some valves were found to be inoperable requiring <br /> OWASA to move further away from the break to close more valves. The report noted that the <br /> complexity of turning 31 valves overall resulted in 7.5 hours passing before OWASA slowed the <br /> leak to a point where the necessary repairs could be made. <br /> OWASA is acting on recommendations from the report to increase system resiliency. For <br /> example, we are establishing a dedicated valve maintenance crew,working with a consultant to <br /> improve the organization's water pipe assessment and replacement prioritization model, and <br /> developing plans to improve piping infrastructure leaving the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) on <br />