CFPUA asks for voluntary water restrictions Thursday

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The last time the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority called for voluntary water use restrictions, it ended in a weekend-long water emergency. It’s asked customers in the northern part of New Hanover County to limit water use again later this week hoping this time things go a lot better.

It’s not mandatory, but the CFPUA is asking customers to voluntarily turn off their sprinklers and take shorter showers Thursday.

“I get to not do laundry for the day,” Danielle Brown, who lives in Ogden, said. “Aside from that, I do water my grass daily, but we’ll cut that for the day and just kind of go to help with the cause.”

The CFPUA will repair the brand new Nano-Filtration Water Treatment Facility from 3 to 7 p.m.

“Approximately a month ago when we had some severe storms in the area and actually one of the panels at this facility was struck by lightning. So we’re going to have to go and do a complete electrical shutdown so they can get in and repair some of the electrical panels,” CFPUA spokeswoman Carey Ricks said.

Only certain areas of the county are being asked to comply: Murrayville, Castle Hayne, Kings Grant, Porters Neck, Ogden, West Bayshore, Walnut Hills and Wrightsboro.

Unlike the last voluntary conservation that resulted in a water main break and boil water advisory, Ricks says customers should not see much of a difference from their usual service.

“They shouldn’t expect any changes in their service,” she said. “Worse case scenario we might see some difference in pressure other than what they’re accustomed to.”

If everything goes as planned, normal water consumption will resume Friday.

Many business and homeowners we talked with wanted to know why they had not heard anything about the voluntary restrictions before today. The Utility Authority says in addition to letting the media know, it sent out text messages and e-mail alerts and posted the information on their website. You can sign up to get online alerts directly from www.CFPUA.org