Asheville Council member: Drinkable water restored by mid-December

ASHEVILLE - A City Council member said the city's water system would see potable water restored by mid-December, in a video posted to social media Nov. 1.

"Worst-case scenario, if the (turbidity) curtains don't work, we will have a temporary filtration system that will be up and running by mid-December," Asheville City Council Maggie Ullman said in an Instagram reel.

"That is still a long ways away, but we have an end date. Up until now, we’ve all been walking around going, 'is this going to be next March?' We didn’t know. But now we know mid-December ... we will have drinking water."

The filtration system is what she described as a "Plan B" to the city's ongoing work to reduce turbidity in the Burnett Reservoir, which feeds its largest water treatment plant near Black Mountain.

If that plan were to "not really ever land," the city is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bring in a temporary water filtration system, Ullman said, which would require a 35-day build — a clock that started Oct. 30, according to Water Resources Department spokesperson Clay Chandler — and then an additional two weeks to flush the system.

Chandler told the Citizen Times Nov. 1 that "mid-December is certainly realistic."

"We’re working with the Army Corps of Engineers on an alternative filtration system, full details of which I’ll provide at the media briefing on (Nov. 4)," Chandler said.

The Army Corps system is a "redundancy," he said, and water restoration could happen sooner if the ongoing in-lake treatment progresses quickly.

“We’re going to do it regardless. If the lake cleared up tomorrow, we would still proceed with the Army Corps option," Chandler said. "By mid-December, we will have a drinking water solution in place. Does that mean that every single part of the city will be out from under the boil water notice? We don’t know that for sure, right now.”

Until now, the city has resisted providing a timeline for potable water restoration. Chandler told the Citizen Times previously that, without certainty, it would be "irresponsible."

The Army Corps build is still contingent on some elements "out of our control," like weather, Chandler said, but given what is known now, Thanksgiving is the target to get the filtration system operational, and then flushing will begin.

Water resources communications have flowed primarily through city staff and the Buncombe County media briefings, typically held daily on weekdays.

With the project confirmed only the night before, Chandler said the Nov. 1 meeting was the first time he was able to mention the plan publicly, and he had already intended for it to be part of the Monday briefing.

"So there was no breaking out of procedure or anything like that, the way this was announced," he said.

When Tropical Storm Helene tore through Western North Carolina Sept. 27, it severely damaged the Asheville water system, which serves Buncombe County and the northern portion of Henderson County. Transmission lines were destroyed and the North Fork reservoir was essentially flipped upside down, stirring up sediment and clay.

Turbidity curtains have been installed at North Fork reservoir, and a second round of in-lake treatment was expected to wrap at the end of day Oct. 31.

Non-potable water has been restored to about 99% of the city's water customers. The entire system is under a boil water notice.

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.