A 6-inch water main break on Elizabeth Brady Road knocked out water pressure across central Hillsborough overnight Saturday, triggering a boil water advisory that remains in effect until further notice. Town crews worked through the night to locate and repair the break, but the pressure drop was severe enough that officials turned to a neighboring city for emergency help just to keep taps running.
According to ABC11 News, the advisory covers Hillsborough's central water zone, including downtown, the area north of U.S. 70A to Lawrence Road (excluding Forest Ridge), and the Tuscarora and Morelanda Drive neighborhoods. All Hillsborough water customers, not just those in the affected zone, are being asked to conserve water while repairs and testing continue. Residents unsure whether their address falls inside the affected area can call the Hillsborough water treatment plant at 919-732-3621.
To keep water flowing during the crisis, Hillsborough tapped into regional interconnections and purchased bulk water from the City of Durham, using it to refill a tank on Hasell Street that had dropped during the pipe failure, per WNCN. Triangle-area utilities maintain these emergency supply links precisely for situations like this, when a distribution failure — rather than a shortage of raw water — threatens service.
Overnight Scramble to Find and Fix the Leak
Town Utilities Director Marie Strandwitz apologized for the inconvenience and praised the municipal crews who worked overnight to track down and repair the break, according to Chapelboro.com. The pressure problems began overnight into Saturday, and town officials expect the issue to be resolved by Saturday afternoon, ABC11 News reports.
Under North Carolina's water distribution rules, public systems are required to maintain at least 20 psi of pressure during peak demand. Falling below that threshold triggers a mandatory precautionary advisory, since low pressure can create a vacuum effect that draws groundwater or contaminants back into drinking water pipes, per standards published by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Affected customers should boil water used for drinking, cooking, and brushing teeth. The Town of Hillsborough's own guidance specifies that tap water needs a vigorous rolling boil for at least a full minute, and warns that standard faucet or refrigerator filters will not eliminate bacteria. Restaurants and childcare centers have their own procedures for operating under a boil water advisory, and some businesses may temporarily close as a result. Residents are also urged to avoid watering lawns, washing cars, and pressure washing while the water conservation request remains in effect.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
Elizabeth Brady Road has become an unlucky hot spot for Hillsborough's utility infrastructure. Just one month before this leak, a fence post accidentally punctured an 8-inch sewer main on nearby Daye Street, sending roughly 38,400 gallons of untreated wastewater into a drainage ditch near the same corridor, as Hoodline previously reported. And in July 2025, Tropical Depression Chantal flooded both the town's water treatment plant on Dimmocks Mill Road and its wastewater plant on Elizabeth Brady Road, triggering a multi-day boil water notice and conservation mandate.
The main break also arrives just weeks after Hillsborough raised water and sewer rates by 7.5%, effective July 1, adding roughly $9 a month to the average in-town bill. Town officials said the increase was meant to fund infrastructure maintenance, offset inflation, and cover a budget shortfall in the water fund, according to the Town of Hillsborough. The town board approved a $15.8 million Water and Sewer Fund budget for the fiscal year in June.
The repeated breakdowns come even though Hillsborough's underlying water supply is far from scarce. The town draws its raw drinking water from the Eno River, backed by the West Fork Eno Reservoir expansion completed in 2021, which doubled raw water storage capacity to more than 260 days of supply. That abundance hasn't stopped distribution-line failures from repeatedly disrupting service to the more than 14,000 residents the system serves across Hillsborough and adjacent Orange County areas.
Drought Adds Pressure to an Already Strained System
The timing is notable given regional drought conditions. In July, severe dry weather pushed much of Orange County into “exceptional drought” status under the U.S. Drought Monitor, lowering Eno River levels and prompting neighboring Triangle utilities to urge voluntary conservation, Hoodline reported at the time. Chapel Hill-Carrboro's utility, OWASA, was tracking similar declines in reservoir inflows across the shared watershed.
Before the advisory can be lifted, Hillsborough will conduct water quality testing, a process that involves mandatory bacterial incubation periods before state regulators sign off. Until those results clear and pressure is fully restored, the boil water advisory and the townwide conservation request both remain in effect until further notice.
