Yes, planned water outages or potential disruptions are typical for potable water projects. The proposed project does not anticipate any significant water outages or disruptions to the City’s existing drinking water supply. For any scheduled drinking water disruptions, the City will provide advance notification via AVL Alerts. 

Current City customers who are signed up to receive AVL Alerts will receive a phone call, notifying them when the scheduled disruption is expected to take place and for how long. Additionally, the City regularly updates the Water Quality and Advisories webpage to notify the public of any anticipated service disruptions. 

*Please note: While the information on the webpage is frequently refreshed, it may not always be updated in real time. To be notified immediately of advisories or outages in your area, please sign up for AVL Alerts online. 

AVL Alert registration 

Water quality and advisories - The City of Asheville 

Water Resources Customer Service Phone Number: 828-251-1122 

Email: egovutility@ashevillenc.gov

During construction, crews will follow strict procedures to protect water quality, maintain water pressure whenever possible, and minimize the areas and amount of time that customers are affected. 

When water mains must be shut down or repaired, crews will properly disinfect and flush the pipes and conduct required water-quality testing before returning them to service. The project team will also coordinate closely with the water utility crews to safely restore service and respond quickly if an advisory is necessary.  

For more information on water quality, please see the City of Asheville FAQ about Water Quality, here. 

For more information on advisories, please see the City of Asheville FAQs, here.

The City is pursuing funding opportunities to minimize the potential impact on future water rate increases.  

The current City of Asheville Residential and Commercial consumption charge base fee is available on the Water and Utilities Website, which can be found here.

During Tropical Storm Helene, water service interruptions were a direct result of damage to the system due to heavy rainfall, flooding, and floodwater-induced landslides and mudslides. The proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (FEMA HMGP) project includes elements that are specifically designed to mitigate vulnerabilities from these hazards. 

The proposed project includes the construction of pre-treatment systems, which will manage high levels of sediment in the North Fork Reservoir during and after heavy rainfall events to effectively treat and provide customers with safe, reliable drinking water. 

The proposed project also includes the construction of a new auxiliary drinking water transmission main (or “alternate bypass”) that will be located strategically in more stable areas to convey drinking water from the North Fork Water Treatment Plant to customers. The new transmission main will incorporate resilient design and construction methods intended to withstand severe storm events. 

Yes, the City welcomes public input for this project. The City anticipates holding general informational public meetings, which will be announced on the project webpage as they are scheduled.  

FEMA is currently reviewing the City’s application for HMGP funding. Construction schedules are dependent on this review and approval process.  Although the duration of the application review process remains uncertain, a final determination could take a year or longer. 

Our water system continues to operate at pre-Helene water quality levels. Like infrastructure across Western North Carolina, the water system remains vulnerable to extreme weather events like Tropical Storm Helene. This project is a key component of Water Resources’ efforts to get the system as resilient as possible as quickly as possible. 

The project anticipates benefiting approximately 156,000 customers, as well as those who travel to the City and Buncombe County for work or leisure.