JOHNSTON COUNTY, N.C. — Government officials issued a water shortage advisory for Johnston County on Tuesday after a main line in the water treatment plant failed Monday night.

What You Need To Know

On Monday night, there was a line failure at the Johnston County water treatment plant

The county announced a water shortage advisory Tuesday and advised against nonessential water use

This situation does not include a boil water advisory

County officials are asking residents to only use water for essential uses right now, and they’re also telling people to avoid filling pools as well as avoid using water for nonessential irrigation. This situation does not include a boil water advisory.

Chandra Farmer, the director of utilities for Johnston County, said this latest problem with the line happened in the same area where the county had a problem last year. On Tuesday afternoon, Farmer said there’s a temporary fix in place, and the permanent repair should be complete soon.

“The permanent repair, we hope to have that completed within the next week, although again we’re back up operating the plant, and we anticipate being able to get back to those normal flow of operations within the next 48 hours,” Farmer said.

Farmer also says the county’s growth did not cause this issue, and the advisory, which is not mandatory, is simply out of precaution.

“We intend to continue to expand the plant, expand our distribution system to continue to accommodate that growth. Again, like I said, the peak hour and peak demand in that peak period we want to ensure that we can provide adequate supply in that time,” Farmer said.

On Monday night, Johnston County’s Board of Commissioners approved an expansion of the water treatment plant, which would increase the plant’s capacity from 14 million gallons a day to 18 million gallons a day. Bids for contractors and designers of that plan will start in July.