ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — It’s been more than seven weeks since water from the Asheville system has been drinkable.
The boil water advisory that has been in effect since Tropical Storm Helene wreaked havoc on the North Fork water facility was lifted Monday.
Water Resources crews sampled water at dozens of test sites over the weekend, Public Information Officer Clay Chandler said during a briefing Monday morning.
“We got the results back this morning. They were all clear of E. coli and coliform,” Chandler said. “Customers may resume normal usage of the water system. It is no longer advisable to use bottled water for consumption. Normal use for consumption and hygiene may resume.”
The turbidity, or sediment, in the reservoir was 14.5 Monday morning. It needs to be between 1.5 and 2 NTUs, or Nephelometric Turbidity units, to be safe for the normal treatment process.
“It looks like it’s going to keep falling. So, that’s very good news,” Ccandler said.
The process to flush the system, or replace the raw water with treated water, began Oct. 30.
However, water customers whose homes were built before 1988 should still flush their pipes for 30 seconds or until you feel the water temperature change before drinking or cooking with the water. That process should be followed daily.
Chandler stressed that the water in the source water is clean.
“We have never had a detectable level of lead in our source water. And those are on paper records that we have in our possession going back to 1991. And some were archived water records that go farther back even than that,” he said. “There is absolutely no concern on our end about the presence of lead in our distribution system. None whatsoever.”