The boil water advisory has been lifted, the Water Resources Department says

It was the news everyone has been waiting for after the destruction of Tropical Storm Helene.

The boil water warning, which has been in effect for weeks after Helene, has been lifted. Water Resources Department spokesman Clay Chandler gave the update at the Nov. 18 briefing in Buncombe County and said as soon as he left the briefing he would issue the AVL push alert saying the boil advisory was lifted.

“Our crews sampled the water at the test sites over the weekend and all tests were completed on Sunday,” Chandler said. “The tests were all free of E. coli and coliforms, so we are therefore canceling the advice on boiling water from today.”

With the US Army Corps of Engineers’ filtration system, Chandler said the raw water that had been in the pipes has been replaced with treated water. Chandler reported that the turbidity level at North Fork Reservoir was below 14 on Nov. 18, but that when the water goes through filtration, the water going through the pipes is now at a turbidity level like it was before Helene.

“After it goes through our filtering and processing systems, it’s like 0.1. That’s what it is under normal circumstances before Helene,” Chandler said.