Johnston County – The Johnston County Water Supply System will temporarily stop feeding ammonia in combination with chlorine (or chloramine) for disinfection of the public water supply and feed chlorine only beginning on March 1, 2011. State and Federal regulations require that public water systems feed chlorine for at least three weeks per year to insure that no bacteria are present which may have adapted to the ammonia in the water. Customers who use kidney dialysis machines, who have tropical fish, or who are involved in commercial food or beverage manufacturing should be aware that the water will contain only chlorine during this period. For the western portion of the County’s water distribution system (known as Johnston West), the disinfectant will be switched back to chloramines on or about April 4, 2011. For the eastern portion of the distribution system (known as Johnston East), chlorine will be used as the disinfectant for the foreseeable future. Please refer to the map below which shows the Johnston West and Johnston East water distribution areas. Johnston County supplies water to many county residents and businesses including the Towns of Four Oaks, Princeton, Kenly, Wilson’s Mills, and Clayton; private utilities including Aqua NC and Carolina Water Service; and all Johnston County water districts. Supplemental supply is provided to the Towns of Pine Level, Benson, Selma, and Fuquay-Varina. Citizens served by private wells will not be affected. Johnston County has used a combination of ammonia and chlorine since September 1996 for disinfection of the public water supply to reduce the level of trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, a series of chemicals formed when water is disinfected using chlorine. During the five (5) week period of chlorine disinfection, the County will flush water mains to speed the change from chloramines to chlorine disinfection. Most customers will not experience any difference in their water, but some may notice a slight chlorine taste or odor and may observe minor changes in color in their water temporarily. Following the initial five (5) week period, customers in the Johnston East system should not experience unusual taste or color in their water from the continued use of chlorine disinfectant. If you experience a color change which cannot be cleared by flushing the lines in your house or business, or if you have questions, please call the number on your water bill for clarification. If you have other concerns about this change, please call Johnston County Public Utilities at 989-5075.
