A 5-million-gallon tank serves as a final stop before City of Asheville water is distributed through pipes to homes, industry, and businesses.
It’s called a clearwell and, like other aspects of Asheville Water Resources facilities, it requires maintenance from time to time.
That maintenance began June 15 at the North Fork Water Production Facility and involve divers in the giant tank to do the work and inspection from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays until completion. The maintenance is expected to take about five weeks.
The clearwell will be cleaned and certain aspects of its structure will be replaced, such as a new hatch over the clearwell entrance and a new ladder within the clearwell.
Water Production operators and lab staff will test for manganese and bacteria throughout each night to ensure the water is safe and meets all water quality parameters. Staff will conduct testing hourly for free chlorine, turbidity and pH. Water Maintenance staff will be available to flush or address concerns while this process is ongoing; Water Resources has identified locations to flush the system, if needed.
“We have worked through this plan with the approval of the North Carolina Division of Water Quality,” said Water Production / Water Quality Division Manager Leslie Carreiro. “Inspection, repair and reinstallation of clearwell components are part of our proactive maintenance of Water Resources facilities. We are committed to providing clean, safe drinking water throughout this clearwell maintenance.”
“This is one of many projects Water Resources has as a vigorous program of ongoing maintenance and system improvement,” said Water Resources Director David Melton. This includes:
- The North Fork Dam Improvement Project, nearing completion, which will provide our community a safer dam with additional capacity.
- Water Resources leak detection crews, which rove the system, “listening” for potential underground pipe leaks so they can be addressed before a break occurs.
- GIS data analysis of areas with frequent breaks, which then become prioritized for pipe replacement as Capital Projects initiatives.
The City of Asheville provides water to approximately 60,000 service connections for residential customers, businesses and industries.
Asheville Water Resources owns and operates three water treatment plants: North Fork (located in Black Mountain), William DeBruhl (located in Swannanoa), and Mills River (located near the Asheville Regional airport). The City of Asheville owns 22,000 acres of forested mountain watershed surrounding our primary reservoirs, making it one of the largest municipally owned watersheds in the United States.
For more information, visit the Water Resources webpage on the City of Asheville website. If any customer experiences a water issue during this or any other time, please notify us by calling Customer Service at 828-251-1122.