The City of Asheville sympathize with the frustration the community is feeling due to water loss and the discolored water that has persisted in many areas of the community. The City takes these incidences seriously and we understand that both residents and businesses depend on the City to provide excellent water quality.
Based on customer service calls and field observations by staff, the City of Asheville has found that most of the main water lines are now clear. Today, Friday, April 5, customer service received 20 calls for discolored water. This is down from more than 1500 calls Tuesday, April 2. Current calls are centered mostly in and around north and west Asheville.
Residents who are still experiencing discolored water are encouraged to flush their internal plumbing systems twice. To properly flush your system:
- Run cold water in your bathtub until it is clear
- Let the water drain from the bathtub
- Run hot water in the bathtub and let the water run until it is cold and clear. This will remove any remaining sediment from your water heater.
We heard the community that our communication about boiling water was confusing. Moving forward, we will improve by:
- Creating an internal standard for communicating major waterline breaks. What we will communicate clearly is that if water was completely lost, customers should boil water until further notice.
- As soon as possible after a break occurs, the water department will directly communicate to customers including big customers such as schools, public housing neighborhoods, medical facilities and businesses. Our goal is that you hear about water line break from us.
The City of Asheville will make adjustments to usage fees in the next billing cycle to accommodate for the increased water usage required to flush internal plumbing. Customers should be aware that it may take up to two months to see the adjustment reflected on their water bills.