7 weeks after Helene, this North Carolina town could have clean water next week

Residents of Asheville, North Carolina, could see their boil water advisory lifted as early as Tuesday, more than seven weeks after Tropical Storm Helene hit on September 27.

Helene struck western North Carolina as a tropical storm, causing devastating flooding and damage to the water system. The storm dumped so much water on the southern Appalachians in three days that it became a once-in-1,000-year catastrophic rainfall event for the region, the National Weather Service said.

Asheville Water Resources spokesman Clay Chandler said Friday that a sampling process must take place before the advisory can be lifted.

“Due to the reduced turbidity levels in the North Fork Reservoir and our ability to push treated water through the system, we were able to introduce a sufficient amount of filtered water into the distribution system without mixing it with raw water,” Chandler said.

Turbidity is a measure of the level of particles in a body of water, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The turbidity level should be about 1.5 to 2 units to be safe for a standard treatment process at the North Fork Reservoir in North Carolina, the city previously said.

The North Fork Reservoir provides water to most Asheville residents, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. Its turbidity levels fell below 15 units on Wednesday, according to recent information released by the city. Turbidity levels had reached 90 units immediately after Helene’s accident, CNN affiliate WLOS reported.

“The use of treated water combined with that of customers has provided us with data that we believe is sufficient to conclude that the system has, essentially, turned around. And the vast majority of the raw water has been replaced with treated water,” Chandler said.

The sampling process, which was developed in conjunction with guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, will begin Saturday, Chandler said Friday.

“By Tuesday afternoon and evening of next week, we should have a pretty good idea of ​​the status of our distribution system and whether or not we will be able to lift the boil water advisory. water,” Chandler said. “Lifting the boil water advisory will allow residents to resume normal domestic water use and businesses to operate, without restriction.”

Turbidity could further increase due to unforeseen events such as pipe breaks or “God forbid” another natural disaster, Chandler said.

An Asheville couple who have lived in the area for 15 years told CNN affiliate WLOS they are excited about the possible lifting of the boil water notice.

“It’s very exciting,” Corrie Enright told WLOS. “We heard it in mid-December. We had been planning this for at least a month.

In Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, at least 42 people died because of Helen. The Asheville City Schools district reopened last month, CNN previously reported.

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