Important things to know when your water comes back on in NC

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UPDATE: On Sunday, Asheville, North Carolina officials issued a boil water advisory for customers in Downtown, north Asheville, and south Asheville.

The south Asheville areas affected include from Biltmore Avenue south to the Blue Ridge Parkway, including all of Sweeten Creek Road, Mills Gap Road, Concord Road and surrounding areas. The Shiloh and Oakley areas are also affected. The Boil Water Notice is due to loss of pressure in distribution system pipes and levels of turbidity (particles) in the water.

Officials said there is contamination due to impacts from Hurricane Helene including the potential for untreated water in the distribution system from pipe breaks and levels of turbidity that exceed Safe Drinking Water Act standards initially used to restore water pressure. Your water may look cloudy and/or have a chlorine odor.

Customers are required to vigorously boil tap water for one minute before consuming it. Once laboratory testing of the system confirms the possibility of risk is not present, customers will receive notification that the boil water notice has been lifted via the same method you received this notice.

Water can be used for flushing toilets, washing hands, laundry and bathing. City officials ask residents to monitor small children during bathing to ensure they do not accidentally drink the water. Infants can be given sponge baths.

What to do before water service returns:

What to do when your water service returns:

When the boil water notice is lifted, residents should wait two to three hours, then flush only the cold water lines for 10-15 minutes. If discolored water persists, call customer service at 828-251-1122.

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Buncombe County, North Carolina, officials said some areas will soon have water service restored.

Water resources staff began pressuring and filling the North Fork Bypass line, officials said. The challenge crews currently face is the amount of sediment in the reservoir.

During the briefing, Clayton Chandler said, "Once that system starts to get pressurized, it's going to be Whack-a-Mole to where there is damage that we haven't even seen yet because we can't see the pipes, but when water starts flowing through them where there is a hole in the pipe, it's gonna shoot pretty much straight up in there, and it's just going to depend on what level of damage we're dealing with in this first stage."

According to city leaders, a private contractor will install curtains in the reservoir to create a section where water particles can be clumped together so they become heavy and fall to the bottom. This is a new method the city is using to make this water usable. Usually, this is done through a filtration system, but the water is too murky. This same treatment process is happening in stages to get sediment to settle at the reservoir.

Because the North Fork Water Treatment Plant is not able to be used at the time, crews will begin pressurizing the distribution system directly from reservoir water instead of going through the treatment plant.

Officials said areas are being restored incrementally with the process moving west from Northfork to Asheville.

Crews recognized Swannanoa as ground zero for the water system destruction, and work will take place there starting this weekend. Once crews move past Swannanoa, the process of water restoration will hopefully be easier and faster.

As areas begin to receive water, officials provide important safety measures that residents should know:

Due to falling temperatures, Black Mountain fire Chief John Coffey urges people to follow safe heating practices. These guidelines include:

Water distribution sites are still set up for people who need it.