With the City of Asheville struggling to return water service to residents, some nonprofits are stepping up to fill the gap.
WaterStep set up a water distribution center to purify water from a stream flowing under Beaverdam Road.
Lynn Smith, a volunteer with WaterStep, worked on a medium-sized camp cooler he was presiding over. He describes how a local resident brought the dirty cooler to them, and they were able to clean and fill it with drinking water.
"We are set up right beside a stream, so a lot of people are coming here to get water to flush the toilets with," he said. "We can also supply you with water that's safe to drink.”
The Kentucky-based group also has the capability to make medical-grade disinfectant.
Smith says bleach is a priority to combat black mold that often follows flooding.
"Bleach is what you use to kill black mold. So anytime you've got flooding, there's a huge demand for bleach," Smith said. "As a matter of fact, I would be surprised if you could go to a grocery store now and buy bleach."
The bleach can also be used to clean coolers or toilets, Smith said. The group asks residents to bring an empty bottle that differs from a drinking container to avoid confusing bleach with potable water.
WaterStep, which operates in 72 counties globally, does not charge for their services.
"We are funded by donations, so we are here free of charge to the community," Smith says.
"We will leave this equipment with the people in the community until their water is restored. And then when they no longer need the equipment, we'll come back, we'll pack it up, we'll take it back to Louisville, and it'll be ready to deploy to the next place where it's needed," he says.
The purifier at 450 Beaverdam Road in north Asheville can produce 10,000 gallons of water per day - enough to supply drinking water for much of the area. Residents can pull up to the field and fill jugs and containers for free at a line of spigots just off the road.
WaterStep CEO Mark Hogg says they are still searching for a second site to deploy another water purifier, but the main challenge has been communicating with local leadership.
“There's really not a lot of communication between even government agencies, much less NGO agencies and the government or county agencies,” Hogg says. “It's just a mess.”
The city and county did not respond to BPR’s request for comment.