Blowing Rock Public Works staffer Sterling Lewis gestures up to former Public Works Director Johnny Lentz and current Public Works Director Matt Blackburn, explaining what he sees of the blowout in the water line running parallel to North Main Street, in the creek bed across from the entrance to Chetola Resort.
Blowing Rock Parks and Recreation staffer Caroline Fox loads a case of water into the back of a resident’s SUV on July 18. Fox was one of several town employees manning an emergency water distribution point in front of the American Legion Building while town crews and volunteers searched for a main water line break that emptied the town water storage tank on Green Hill Circle and left the entire town and 22 miles of water lines without water.
Town Manager Shane Fox authorized the immediate purchase of pallets of water from Food Lion in order to set up an emergency water distribution point at the American Legion Building on July 18. A load of 10 pallets was expected to arrive around 1 p.m. and as many as 20 more pallets between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. There was also discussion of potentially activating the Boone water interconnect as soon as repairs to the water line running parallel to North Main Street made it feasible.
Blowing Rock Public Works staffer Sterling Lewis gestures up to former Public Works Director Johnny Lentz and current Public Works Director Matt Blackburn, explaining what he sees of the blowout in the water line running parallel to North Main Street, in the creek bed across from the entrance to Chetola Resort.
BLOWING ROCK — Blowing Rock town government is acting quickly this morning not only to identify the main water line break that has all of Blowing Rock without water, but also to address what the disruption means to the town's water customers.
At approximately 3 a.m. this morning, the town of Blowing Rock experienced a water main break. The majority of the Town is currently without water.
Blowing Rock Parks and Recreation staffer Caroline Fox loads a case of water into the back of a resident’s SUV on July 18. Fox was one of several town employees manning an emergency water distribution point in front of the American Legion Building while town crews and volunteers searched for a main water line break that emptied the town water storage tank on Green Hill Circle and left the entire town and 22 miles of water lines without water.
"Due to a major water line break in the Town of Blowing Rock, the town and the American Red Cross are setting up a distribution point for bottle water. The distribution point will be the Blowing Rock American Legion Building at 333 Wallingford Street, Blowing Rock, NC 28605. As of now, the Town does not have an ETA on the water repair," said Blowing Rock Town Manager Shane Fox.
The Red Cross is issuing one case of water per family.
Town Manager Shane Fox authorized the immediate purchase of pallets of water from Food Lion in order to set up an emergency water distribution point at the American Legion Building on July 18. A load of 10 pallets was expected to arrive around 1 p.m. and as many as 20 more pallets between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. There was also discussion of potentially activating the Boone water interconnect as soon as repairs to the water line running parallel to North Main Street made it feasible.
Town of Blowing Rock crews have identified the major leak that caused water loss throughout Town and the process has begun to repair the 8 inch waterline.
The boil water notice remains in effect as people begin getting their water service restored, please continue to boil your water until the boil water notice is released by the Town of Blowing Rock.
The line break is expected to be repaired with water restored throughout Town by late tonight.
"These Main Street water lines are more than 40 years old," said Town Manager Shane Fox at the site of the leak. "This particular section, we think, dates back to the 1960s, so it is closer to 70-80 years old. If people were questioning why we have been concerned about these water lines before, they probably aren't now."
The blowout occurred right in the middle of the creek bed across from the entrance to Chetola. Apparently, it occurred in the wee hours of Monday morning, approximately 3 a.m., according to town estimates.
The source of the water main leak was identified shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Monday. Standing on the bridge above the creek, Fox pointed out the large crater the blowout apparently created, estimated visually from above at 10 feet in diameter and measured by Public Works staffers at three feet deeper than the creek bed.
Due to this break, a water system pressure loss occurred throughout the entire town of Blowing Rock and due to this, a Boil Water Advisory is issued to all Town of Blowing Rock water customers.
"When you consider that the creek has been running through here for several hours now, naturally working to fill in this crater, to see this much definition to it still suggests that it was a pretty big blowout. Because it was in the middle of the night and well below the street, nobody heard or saw it happen," said Mayor Charlie Sellers. "And by the time anyone at Chetola might have noticed an usually greater flow of water coming down the creek, the water storage tank up on Green Hill Circle was probably close to empty."
"We easily lost more than three million gallons of water," said Fox. "This water line, which runs parallel to North Main Street as it crosses the creek bed, is part of the nearly $5 million water line replacement project scheduled to be put out to bid later this year, with construction to start in 2023.
The town of Blowing Rock is advising all water consumers to boil all water used for human consumption (including drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation) or use bottled water. Vigorous boiling for one minute should kill any disease-causing organisms that may be present in the water.
Community members should remember that as water is restored, there will be pressure in the lines and they should run cold water until the pressure is consistent. Also, if the water does not seem to be flowing normally, remove (unscrew) and rinse the water filter at the end of your sink spout to remove any sediment there may be.
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