Hillsborough lifts its boil water notice. Here’s what to know.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Flooding from Tropical Depression Chantal triggered a boil water notice in Hillsborough.
- Clear wells and sewer pump stations suffered flood damage, delaying water treatment.
- Bottled water is available at Hillsborough Commons and two local Food Lion stores.
The town of Hillsborough has lifted its boil water notice after it found no bacteria in water test samples, the town said Thursday.
On Saturday, the town’s water treatment plant came back online and the town is no longer advising customers to conserve water.
“Customers do not need to take the actions typically required after a boil water notice such as running water, changing filters or dumping ice,” the town stated in a news release.
While the water treatment plant was offline, Hillsborough’s only water came from Durham through a water system connection.
“We are grateful to the City of Durham and its staff who helped get their water into the town’s system through our interconnection piping,” said Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz. “We look forward to our continued working relationship on resiliency and redundancy matters.”
Hillsborough had issued a boil water notice after Tropical Depression Chantal flooded central North Carolina Sunday.
What’s been damaged?
Chantal flooded the Eno River, which then flooded the clear wells at Hillsborough’s water treatment plant that disinfect drinking water before it goes to customers.
The wells have been sanitized and refilling has begun, the town wrote.
“Once partially filled, the water will need to sit for 24 hours before testing for bacteria, which will take another 24 hours,” the town wrote.
The plant sustained minor flooding, but two sewer pump stations were damaged, the River Pump station and Elizabeth Brady station, said JC Leser-McMinn, a town spokesperson.
The two pump stations are the final two stations water passes through before going to the wastewater plant.
Hillsborough had planned to move the River Pump station, which crosses the Eno River, to higher ground using a $7 million grant from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, Leser-McMinn said. But FEMA announced in April that it was canceling any BRIC grants that had not been paid out.
The grant would have also funded a water booster pump station to collect water from the Orange Water and Sewer Authority system in case of emergencies.
Sewage overflows
Currently, because of the flooded River Pump station, wastewater from toilets or washing for about 75% of the town’s sewer customers is going directly into the Eno River without any treatment, the town wrote.
Between the Elizabeth Brady station and an aerial sewer pipe crossing in Churton Grove over Strouds Creek, the town estimates that at least 188,000 gallons of sewage overflows occurred in the Neuse River Basin. It did not have an estimate of sewage overflows from the River Pump station as of Tuesday.
The town is working on installing temporary pumps at the two pump stations to send raw sewage to its wastewater treatment plant and replacing the pipe at Churton Grove.
The town wrote that it has verbally notified the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality of the overflows.
The city of Durham, meanwhile, said 5.8 million gallons of wastewater flowed into the Eno River after flooding, CBS 17 reported.
Where can residents get water?
The town announced Hillsborough Commons will host another bottled-water distribution at 113 Mayo St. from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Food Lion has donated 984 packages of 24-pack bottled water to its two Hillsborough stores. The packages arrived at 7 a.m. Tuesday, and households can get one pack free of charge while they last.
Reporter Anna Roman contributed to this story.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Hillsborough lifts its boil water notice. Here’s what to know.."
.jpg)