In the Friday, Nov. 15 community briefing, Water Resources Department PIO Clay Chandler delivered some unexpected (but extremely welcome) news — potable water could be restored as early as the night of Tuesday, Nov. 19 or the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 20.

We're too excited to think of a clever introduction, so we're just going to tell you what we know.

The target turbidity level changes

But first, a definition. Turbidity, which is the cloudiness of water caused by suspended particles, is measured in Nephelometric Turbidity units (NTUs). The Water Resources Department was initially aiming for 1.5-2 NTUs before putting potable water back into the system. To get a measurement of current levels, crews record the maximum turbidity over a 24-hour period.

As of Friday, Nov. 15, the North Fork reservoir's turbidity was sitting at 15.5 NTUs — but the target levels have changed. And crews have already been pushing potable water into the system.

Chandler clarified that tests were conducted with the on-site pilot plant to see how the filters would handle the turbid water and what maintenance would look like, and staff concluded that it would be possible to run the still-turbid water through the filters without damaging them.

A faster-than-expected restoration timeline

The amount of treated water that crews have been able to push through the system has slowly increased, and the increase led to an unexpected announcement at the Friday, Nov. 15 briefing. According to Chandler, the boil water notice might be lifted as early as the night of Tuesday, Nov. 19 or the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 20.

We've been wanting to type "the boil water notice lifted" for more than a month now. But this news was a little out of the blue, so let's dive in to the details of this new timeline.

As of Friday, ~25 million gallons of treated water were being pushed through the system — and that's the amount needed to keep the system pressurized. No raw water has been used in the system since Saturday, Nov. 9, which means there has been only treated water in the pipes for about a week. Even further, the mechanism for pushing raw water into the system was taken offline the night of Friday, Nov. 15.

“The use of treated water combined with customer usage has given us data that we feel is sufficient to reach the conclusion that the system has, for the most part, turned over," said Chandler. "And the vast majority of raw water has been replaced with treated water. Because of this, we are at the point that we can begin the sampling process to potentially lift the boil water notice."

The plan for potable water

In order to lift the boil water notice, the Water Resources Department has to take 120 water samples in various locations for testing. This sampling process, which was developed in conjunction with the EPA and the NC Department of Environmental Quality, should wrap up late on Monday, Nov. 18, then the samples have an incubation period of 18-24 hours. After the incubation period, the department will be able to assess the health of the distribution system and know whether it is safe to lift the boil water notice.

This may seem quick, given that the city had said a 2-3 week flushing process would be necessary after treatment was back online. But Chandler clarified that this flushing process had, in effect, been happening since Oct. 30, albeit much more slowly than the normal process would be. Instructions will be provided to customers when the boil water notice is officially lifted, but the private flushing process has also been happening just through normal usage.

If testing shows that the water isn't yet safe for consumption, the boil water notice will remain in place — but resampling will be done almost immediately.

The lifting of the notice will indicate that your water is safe for consumption, and restaurants and businesses can operate unrestricted. But as of right now, the boil water notice is still in effect. And Chandler also noted that if turbidity levels increased after the boil water notice was lifted, it might need to be reinstated.

Let's talk lead

On Thursday, Nov. 14, news broke that seven area schools had tested positive for detectable lead in their water. Chandler stated that students had not consumed the water and that the source was older pipes. Because of the piping configuration at the North Fork Water Treatment Plant, Water Resources was unable to treat the raw reservoir water with zinc orthophosphate — which provides corrosion control — for ~19 days.

At the Nov. 15 briefing, Chandler further confirmed that tests of the source water had come back negative for any detectable lead. There was a trace amount of copper detected, but it was "way, way below the action limit."

According to city officials, “Plumbing in structures built before 1988 have increased potential to be a source of lead exposure if water sits undisturbed in plumbing for 4-6 hours.” So even when the boil water notice is lifted, Chandler said that structures built before 1988 will need to follow a flushing protocol to drastically reduce any potential detectable lead in their water.

Residents in homes built before 1988 are encouraged to request a lead and copper testing kit by contacting Water Resources at 828-259-5962 or emailing leadprevention@ashevillenc.gov.

Pro tip: If you need some more context, check out this article.