A 30-inch water main ruptured along N.C. Highway 55 in Cary early Monday, forcing a stretch of the busy commuter road to close, triggering a system-wide boil-water advisory for tens of thousands of customers, and prompting 30 area schools to send students home early.
The break happened along N.C. 55 between the Jenks Road/Old Jenks Road intersection and the Lewey Drive/Turner Creek Road intersection, according to the Town of Cary, which closed that corridor so crews could repair the pipe and clear debris. As reported by ABC11 News, crews later reopened one northbound and one southbound lane, and the road was subsequently widened to two northbound lanes and one southbound lane in that same stretch, though a timeline for a full reopening had not been released.
The Town of Cary confirmed the failed pipe was a 30-inch transmission main that knocked out pressure specifically in the town’s Central Pressure Zone, while the Western and Southern Pressure Zones, along with neighboring Apex and Raleigh-Durham International Airport, were unaffected. The station’s report notes the water main break remained contained within Cary’s own system. Per Cary officials, only one customer was confirmed to be without water entirely, even as roughly 50,000 customers were placed under the pressure advisory.
Why a Pressure Drop Means Boil Your Water
Town crews began collecting water quality samples at 5 a.m. Monday, cautioning that low pressure can create conditions allowing bacteria to enter the system even though no harmful bacteria had actually been detected at that point. That precaution follows North Carolina Division of Water Resources rules, which require a System Pressure Advisory whenever pressure drops below 20 pounds per square inch, since dropping pressure raises the risk of back-siphonage pulling outside contaminants into the pipes, as outlined by the Town of Hillsborough…