Charlotte Water rolls out ‘crucial tool’ to notify customers of outages and spills

Charlotte Water has started to implement a new alert system that will inform customers of outages and emergency events, the city utility said Thursday.

The system will allow Charlotte Water to call, text and email account holders and provide up-to-date information on their water service, according to a news release from the agency.

Customers will be alerted of unplanned and planned water outages, wastewater spills, construction alerts and water quality advisories, according to Charlotte Water’s website.

“We appreciate our customers’ suggestions and their patience as we worked on the right solution,” director Angela Charles said in a statement. “This is a crucial tool to help update customers as incidents and situations develop.”

The agency initially told The Charlotte Observer about the system earlier this month when a construction crew damaged a water main in South End causing a daylong outage.

Last October, thousands of homes and businesses were left without water for about two days after a water main break on Remount Road, near Irwin Creek and Revolution Park. Charles called the disruption “historical.”

Prior to the system, the agency primarily used its Twitter and NextDoor accounts to update customers about outages.

The new system will continue testing through June, with full implementation expected in July, spokeswoman Jennifer Frost said.

Account holders can opt out of receiving the alerts at anytime, according to the agency’s website.