Scheduled CFPUA Service Outage, Precautionary Boil Water Advisory (PBWA)
issued Thursday for small section of Wilmington (near S. 17th and Castle Streets) LIFTED
Outage/advisory was related to repair of several broken valves found during CFPUA’s Valve Replacement Program; Precautionary Boil Water Advisory followed outage
PBWA covered the following streets: 1400-1600 blocks of Castle Street and 300-500 blocks of S. 17th Street
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Mike McGill
(910) 332-6704
After Hours: (910) 622-8472
mike.mcgill@cfpua.org
WILMINGTON, NC, November 7, 2015: Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) HAS LIFTED a precautionary boil water advisory (PBWA) issued for a small area of Wilmington near the intersection of Castle and S. 17th Streets. CFPUA repaired several broken valves found in the area during its Valve Replacement Program. As part of CFPUA’s commitment to reliably deliver drinking water, its crews are moving through the entire water system over a three-year period to check nearly 15,000 valves for breaks and/or leaks.
As a result of the repair, a service outage was required for the addresses listed above between from 9 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. on Thursday. The outage affected approximately 80 customers. A precautionary boil water advisory was issued because periods of low or no pressure increase the potential for the introduction of bacteria into the water system. CFPUA customers in the above described area were asked to boil their water for one minute then allow it to cool prior to consumption or utilize another water source such as bottled water. Consumption includes drinking, brushing teeth, making ice, food preparation, fruit and vegetable washing and the preparation of baby formula. Customers do NOT need to boil water prior to using it for showering or bathing.
CFPUA is asking the media for assistance in getting out the word because of the number of addresses affected. Customers may also call into CFPUA’s Precautionary Boil Water Advisory Information Line at (910) 332-6500 for details. The Precautionary Boil Water Advisory was in effect until water quality testing occurred and service was returned to normal.
The lifting of the advisory is occurring in one or more of the following ways: hand-delivered announcement, a post on www.cfpua.org, a recorded phone message at 332-6500, and/or a press release to area media outlets.
A precautionary boil water advisory is a public health announcement. When issued, the public should assume there is an elevated risk of their water being unsafe to drink. Advisories can be issued after: incidents that compromise the distribution system (ex. water main break); failure of/substantial interruption in water treatment processes that result in increased turbidity levels or particle counts; mechanical or equipment failure; violations of the total coliform rule or the turbidity standard of the surface water treatment rule; or a natural disaster. www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking.
# # #
Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) was formed by the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County to combine their water and sewer operations. It began operations on July 1, 2008. Today, the Authority serves more than 67,000 water customer accounts and more than 65,000 wastewater customer accounts. It oversees more than 1,000 miles of water distribution mains and nearly 1,000 miles of sewer mains. For more information, visit www.cfpua.org or contact CFPUA’s Communications staff at communications@cfpua.org.