Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:

Question: Why did the Biltmore Estate remove all of those beautiful trees at the entrance gate?

My answer: It’s all part of Biltmore Village’s new holiday marketing program, “It’s beginning to look a lot like a hurricane hit us.” It’s probably not the best marketing program in the world…

Real answer: Chalk this up to yet another notch in Tropical Storm Helene’s belt of destruction.

As most folks are aware, floodwaters rose to historic levels in Biltmore Village, including at the estate’s iconic entrance gate. The watermark on the gatehouse building remains visible, about two-thirds up the first floor of the two-story structure.

The trees lining the road leading to the gate were indeed iconic, as they’d been with us for more than a century.

“The tulip poplars that once lined the entrance to Biltmore, many of which were over 100 years old and original to the estate, suffered significant damage when the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Helene washed away the soil around their roots,” Biltmore Estate spokesperson Marissa Jamison said via email. “In addition to root damage, several trees experienced trunk damage, and a few were left leaning after the storm. As a result, the difficult decision was made to remove the trees.”

The rows of poplars were planted during estate builder George Vanderbilt’s time, and they once stretched all the way to the depot in Biltmore Village, Jamison noted. Bill Quade, director of horticulture at the estate, shared that before Helene, 17 tulip poplars lined Biltmore’s entrance, 13 of which were original to the estate.

“In the spring, we plan to replant these majestic trees as part of a broader effort to rebuild Biltmore’s entrance that we are working on following the losses we’ve all endured,” Jamison said.

The Gate House Gift Shop near the entrance also sustained heavy damage, and Jamison said the future of that building “is still being assessed.”

The 250-room home and 8,000-acre estate, which Vanderbilt originally opened in 1895, had to shut down after Helene downed trees and caused flooding Sept. 27. It reopened Nov. 2 and is hosting many of its popular seasonal programs, including Candlelight Christmas Evenings.

Question: With the concern about lead in the city water, can you ask about apartment buildings and flushing? How are they flushed? I live in the Kenilworth Inn building and it was built around 1910. How does flushing work in an old apartment building? Any other tips to avoid lead in the water? Apartments, to my knowledge, have never been mentioned at the daily briefings, but I easily could have missed it.

My answer: I remember the good old days when “flushing” was just something you had to remind your kids to do after they did their business. I miss those days.

Real answer: As we’ve previously reported, the city announced Nov. 14 that it had found detectable levels of lead in seven schools. The Water Resources Department has stressed that this occurred when the schools were closed and the water sat in pipes, which can lead to lead leaching into the system.

Also, the city suspended its anti-corrosion treatment program for 19 days because of high turbidity in the North Fork Reservoir. In older pipes where lead solder was used, corrosion from chlorine and other chemicals can cause the lead to leach into the system.

The anti-corrosion program was reinstated Oct. 30, but it can take more than a month to become effective again.

The city announced Nov. 18 that the water it was producing was potable again. Until that point, the city had recommended bottled water for any consumption, although it did say if no other sources were available, customers could consume water boiled for at least one minute.

The city has stressed that no lead is in its distribution pipes, but lead can be found in pipes of buildings and homes built in or before 1988, when lead was banned. It also has emphasized that if you flush pipes for 30 seconds to two minutes before using, that removes the lead.

I asked specifically about apartment buildings at the Thursday daily Helene briefing, and  Brenna Cook, the compliance manager for Asheville Water Resources Department, said they should not be of any more concern than older homes.

“So in apartment buildings, people are pretty much using water all the time, but it probably would be good for those property managers to do a system-wide flush,” Cook said. “A lot of those apartment buildings are master metered, so they would want to flush their lines themselves and then direct their tenants to flush their water as well.”

Water usage varies among tenants, Cook said, and the city doesn’t have any way of tracking that individually.

“If the tenant cannot get their building property manager to flush, we do still suggest flushing their water for 10 to 15 minutes at first, but then follow that with 30 seconds to two minutes each time they use the water for consumption, if it hasn’t been used for more than four hours,” Cook said.

Question: (I’m combining two reader questions here) 1. Are there other possible contaminants in the North Fork Reservoir that are not being tested for? 2. OMG, the water is putrid. I chanced a shower and a shave, and washed my hair. I’ve carried a sickening smell all day. Is this our new reality? I lived in Tampa for 25 years, and they got their water from the god-awful Green Swamp. The city water smells like Tampa water.

My answer: I imagine this made you a popular figure at the hot yoga studio.

Real answer: As far as contaminants in the North Fork Reservoir, the city has noted previously that because the reservoir is outside of Black Mountain and in a 20,000-acre watershed that is almost completely undeveloped, the water coming into it from the flooding did not contain chemicals or other materials associated with industry, businesses or other development.

On Thursday, Cook said they continue to test the raw water at North Fork, with results posted on the city’s Water Resources page.

“All the detections came back as normal,” Cook said. “You have to remember, North Fork is a protected watershed, so there’s less likelihood of stuff like that happening during a rain event. I’m not saying we didn’t have a lot of turbidity washing in, but there’s less worry of something like that occurring In the North Fork watershed.”

Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said at the briefing that if you do have discolored water, your first step should be to call the Water Resources customer service line at 828-251-1122.

“But the other thing to remember is, we still operate a significant and substantial water system, just like we have in the past,” Woody said. “We still have breaks that we have to repair.”

The city has had several breaks since repressurizing the system in mid-October.

“We do go repair those, but oftentimes, under normal business, if there’s a water main break there may be for a certain area a boil water advisory,” Woody said. “There may be some discoloration of water.”

Neither Cook nor Woody commented on any “swamp smell” coming from the water. I’ll note that I’ve not heard that complaint from other readers, at least not yet. 

Woody stressed that the water going into taps has a very low turbidity — .1 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs) — which is where it was pre-Helene. The raw water at North Fork still has a turbidity of between 14 and 15, but the city is able to filter it and treat it before distribution.

“I just want to reiterate that the water that we are putting into our distribution system is coming through both of our water treatment plants (North Fork and Mills River), and it is of a quality that it typically is and meets all EPA and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality standards,” Woody said.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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