‘We’re back to normal,’ Hilton Head Island water, sewer officials say

While crews on Hilton Head Island are still working for repair isolated line breaks more than a week after Hurricane Matthew, the island’s overall water and sewer system was fully functional as of Monday.

Island-wide, residents are now able to flush toilets and take showers without putting a major strain on the system.

Boil advisories have been lifted by all three of the island’s water utilities: the South Island Public Service District, the Broad Creek Public Service District and the Hilton Head Public Service District.

The Broad Creek Public Service District — which serves the Palmetto Dunes, Plantation Center, South Island Square, Chimney Cove, Yacht Cove and Shelter Cove areas — was the last utility on the island to lift its boil advisory, doing so late Friday.

Service district general manager Mike Allen said Monday that water quality testing revealed no evidence of contamination.

Hilton Head Public Service District general manager Pete Nardi said his utility — which services communities such as Hilton Head Plantation, Palmetto Hall Plantation and Indigo Run — also has tested water quality and found no problems.

“There was no contamination,” he said. “The water was always OK, but you have to do the tests just to be sure.”

Crews with the South Island Public Service District — which covers the areas around Sea Pines, Forest Beach, Wexford, Long Cove, Shipyard, Palmetto Bay and Point Comfort — did more than 100 water quality tests and “had no samples that came back positive for bacterial contamination,” utility general manager Kelley Ferda said Monday.

Utility services on nearby Harbor and Fripp islands are still waiting for testing results before lifting boil advisories.

Kim Hinchey of the Fripp Island Public Service District said Monday that the advisory will likely remain in effect until mid-week.

In addition to the boil advisories, all water-use restrictions on Hilton Head Island have been lifted.

“Our water system and sewer systems are fully functional,” Ferda said. “We are back to normal.”

While there are “still individuals with line breaks on their properties,” she said that “all the major lines are repaired.”

Allen agreed.

“The system is as normal as it can be at this point,” he said. “Just be aware that there will still be sporadic individual (water service) outages here and there as cleanup efforts continue.”

Nardi urged residents to “use water efficiently at all times, under any circumstance,” but said “there are currently no active (water usage) restrictions.”

As recovery continues, the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority requests that “residents avoid placing hurricane debris near water meter vaults, fire hydrants or any above-ground utilities,” according to a BJWSA news release.

This story was originally published October 17, 2016 at 10:48 AM with the headline "‘We’re back to normal,’ Hilton Head Island water, sewer officials say."