A very wet July (more rain in one month than the entire first half of the year!) thankfully rescued Triangle-area drinking water reservoirs just in time for National Water Quality Month. However, future droughts and population growth may have less of an impact on Triangle-area water resources thanks to new water recycling efforts that are already underway.
Durham, Orange, and Chatham counties are already collaborating to build a Jordan Lake Water Supply Program that will pump water upstream from Jordan Lake to a new filtration plant in Durham. Currently, Durham and Orange counties, as well as Raleigh, draw almost all of their water from reservoirs whose headwaters are northwest of the Triangle’s three cities. Unfortunately, the recent drought has been most severe in exactly that area, leading to water restrictions across much of the Triangle.
