At about 6 p.m. on Tuesday, OWASA responded to an overflow of about 7,000 gallons from a sewer west of Skipper Bowles Drive on the UNC campus. The overflow occurred at the same manhole as a 1,500 gallon overflow late Tuesday morning during testing of a reclaimed water pipe line, but the overflow at 6 PM involved different circumstances.

During a follow-up inspection of sewer piping this morning, OWASA found and removed concrete debris that was blocking the sewer. The overflow at 6 PM Tuesday also involved an unplanned release of drinking water from a University chiller plant into the OWASA sewer system.

An OWASA crew recovered most of the spilled water and returned it to the sewer system, but some of the water went into a storm drain on Skipper Bowles Drive.

Because the spill was primarily water that had been disinfected and contained chlorine, no risks to human health are expected. There is no evidence of effects on fish or other aquatic animals.