The City of Asheville has restored non-potable, heavily chlorinated water to about 95 percent of users, but its main source of water, North Fork Reservoir, remains stubbornly murky 26 days after Tropical Storm Helene.
At the Buncombe County daily storm briefing Monday, Asheville Water Resources Department spokesperson Clay Chandler shared a photo of a still very brown-looking North Fork Reservoir. The city treated the reservoir Wednesday and Thursday with minerals that were supposed to cause clay particles to sink, clearing the water near the surface.
That did not happen.
“And as you can see, the surface water has not cleared up very much at all, if any,” Chandler said. “What has happened — and which is almost completely opposite of what we expected to happen — is water at the deeper portions — 40 to 50 feet — have shown fairly significant improvement as far as clearing turbidity.”
Chandler said windy conditions on the two days of treatment last week roiled the surface waters, stirring up sediment. But water officials are not entirely sure why the lake remains so stubbornly brown, as it’s normally a “pristine” water source, and its feeder streams have cleared back up.
“There have been a lot of things that have happened in the last three and a half weeks that have defied logic,” Chandler said. “This is just the latest one. And again, we think that the windy conditions Wednesday and Thursday of last week, when that treatment was done, stirred up that surface water to the point that it was not going to clear up, treatment or not.”
Turbidity is measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units, or NTUs, and the EPA requires filter water to be less than .30 NTU for consumption. At North Fork, normal filtered water is between .03 and .05 NTU, meaning it’s “typically exponentially cleaner than required,” Chandler said previously.
The raw water typically entering the lake has an NTU of 1 or less, but Monday turbidity readings at North Fork were hovering between 25 and 27, Chandler said. On Oct. 11, the water registered 30 NTU.
The city water system still has a system-wide boil water notice in place. The water is safe for showers, laundry and flushing commodes, but it is not safe to consume unless boiled, and even then, the city still recommends using bottled water for consumption.
Chandler said Monday that he still had no timeline on full restoration of water, “or at least an accurate one that we can provide as far as when that lake will clear up and we can treat the water and push it through our filters and all of that.”
Over the weekend, the city reached 95 percent of system restoration with non-potable water. People in the Eastmoor and Bee Tree areas in east Asheville got water back, but some areas, including including Town Mountain and Webb Cove, remain without it. / Credit: City of Asheville
“But we are certainly hopeful that the second round of treatment will sort of push the ball down the court as far as that reservoir clearing up,” Chandler said.
The city treated the water with a mix of aluminum sulfate and caustic soda. Workers have used a boat to dump tote bags full of chemicals into the reservoir in an effort to purify the water.
Aluminum sulfate is a “salt-ish” mineral the department uses to regularly treat the reservoir, as it makes clay particles coagulate and sink, leading to clearer water for filtering and treatment. Caustic soda helps with optimum pH levels for the coagulation to work best.
The city is awaiting arrival Thursday or Friday of a “curtain” system that can be installed at the reservoir to help with turbidity. The city will have to install and anchor the curtains in place.
Once in, they’ll create a 500-foot circle around the intake.
“And we are pretty confident that by a week from today, we will be doing a second round of that in-lake treatment process,” Chandler said.
The reservoir has intakes for water treatment at 21, 50 and 80 feet. North Fork serves 80 percent of Asheville’s 63,000 water customers.
Asked if the city has considered bringing in or installing heavier-duty filtration equipment designed for turbid water, Chandler said the technology does exist, but there are challenges.
“The problem that we’re going to run into at North Fork is that North Fork, on average, pushes 25 million gallons a day into our system, and mobile or portable treatment facilities are just unable to handle that volume,” he said.
Chandler said that over the weekend, the city reached 95 percent of system restoration with non-potable water. People in the Eastmoor and Bee Tree areas in east Asheville got water back.
But some areas remain without any water, including Town Mountain and Webb Cove Road, that “have proven to be particularly problematic,” Chandler said, noting that includes 65 to 70 homes.
“A three-inch line that serves that area got washed out by a landslide after the storm, and so we’ve had to do a little bit of coordinating with NCDOT as far as road repair before we can restore service there,” Chandler said. “Our contractors are going to work on a temporary solution that we hope will be in place Wednesday or Thursday. That should restore service to most of the Town Mountain, Webb Cove areas that currently do not have water.”
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
SUMMARY: Jim Jenkins, a North Carolina baseball trailblazer and Negro Leagues player, exemplified resilience and excellence both on and off the field. His sons recall his superior skills—hitting, running, and catching—and how he faced challenges due to his skin color. Beyond baseball, Jenkins was a community father, teaching youths fundamentals and helping those in need. He shared a friendship with legend Hank Aaron, often attending Braves games with his family. His legacy endures through his children, who honor not just his athletic achievements but his kindness and humanity, inspiring future generations to carry on his impact.
James “Jim” Jenkins had a profound impact on the game of baseball as a trailblazer known in the Carolinas.
SUMMARY: A scientist reflecting on the politicization of science warns that ideological influence undermines objectivity, breeds mistrust, and hampers public understanding. The FY2026 budget proposal cut NIH funding by about 40%, saving taxpayers $18 billion, but only 1.5% of the total federal budget, while increasing defense spending by 13%. These cuts severely impact states like North Carolina, where science drives $2.4 billion in tax revenue and thousands of jobs. The cuts target indirect costs vital for research infrastructure and diversity efforts, mistakenly seen as ideological rather than essential scientific practices. The author calls for unity to prioritize facts over politics and protect scientific progress for societal and economic health.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-06-15 02:01:00
North Carolina’s U.S. House members voted along party lines on two Republican-backed bills: the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1), which cuts \$1.6 trillion in government spending, and the “Rescissions Act of 2025” (H.R. 4), which eliminates \$9.4 billion from entities like USAID and public broadcasting. Republicans called it a purge of waste, citing spending on drag shows and foreign projects. Democrats criticized the cuts as harmful and symbolic, calling the effort fiscally irresponsible. H.R. 1 passed 215-214; H.R. 4 passed 214-212. No Democrats supported either. A few Republicans broke ranks and voted against their party on each bill.
(The Center Square) – North Carolinians in the U.S. House of Representatives were unwavering of party preference for two bills now awaiting finalization in the Senate.
Republicans who favored them say the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, known also as House Resolution 1, slashed $1.6 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse of government systems. The Rescissions Act of 2025, known also as House Resolution 4, did away with $9.4 billion – less than six-tenths of 1% of the other legislation – in spending by the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Corp. for Public Broadcasting (PBS, NPR), and other entities.
Democrats against them say the Department of Government Efficiency made “heartless budget cuts” and was an “attack on the resources that North Carolinians were promised and that Congress has already appropriated.”
Republicans from North Carolina in favor of both were Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, Addison McDowell, David Rouzer, Rev. Mark Harris, Richard Hudson, Pat Harrigan, Chuck Edwards, Brad Knott and Tim Moore.
Democrats against were Reps. Don Davis, Deborah Ross, Valerie Foushee and Alma Adams.
Foxx said the surface was barely skimmed with cuts of “$14 million in cash vouchers for migrants at our southern border; $24,000 for a national spelling bee in Bosnia; $1.5 million to mobilize elderly, lesbian, transgender, nonbinary and intersex people to be involved in the Costa Rica political process; $20,000 for a drag show in Ecuador; and $32,000 for an LGBTQ comic book in Peru.”
Adams said, “While Elon Musk claimed he would cut $1 trillion from the federal government, the recissions package amounts to less than 1% of that. Meanwhile, House Republicans voted just last month to balloon the national debt by $3 trillion in their One Big Ugly Bill. It’s fiscal malpractice, not fiscal responsibility.”
House Resolution 1 passed 215-214 and House Resolution 4 went forward 214-212. Republican Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky were against the One Big Beautiful Bill and Republican Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Michael Turner of Ohio were against the Rescissions Act.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article presents a straightforward report on the partisan positions and voting outcomes related to two specific bills, highlighting the contrasting views of Republicans and Democrats without using loaded or emotionally charged language. It neutrally conveys the Republicans’ framing of the bills as efforts to cut waste and reduce spending, alongside Democrats’ critique of those cuts as harmful and insufficient fiscal discipline. By providing direct quotes from representatives of both parties and clearly stating voting results, the content maintains factual reporting without promoting a particular ideological stance. The balanced presentation of arguments and absence of editorializing indicate a commitment to neutrality rather than an intentional partisan perspective.
