Wilmington restaurants scramble to stay open during boil water order
WILMINGTON - Inside Tremezzo Ristorante in Wilmington, it looks like any other busy Friday night. But there's an issue in town making it tough for business to stay afloat.
A boil water order was issued after E. coli was found in the town's tap water. The safety hazard affected businesses, homes and even shut down school for the day.
But not all businesses could close.
"Closing for a couple days wasn't really an alternative for us," said Tremezzo owner Rick Lowe. "We have a lot of people who this job is a career, so to close would have been tough."
So how do you keep a restaurant open when the water isn't safe? How about you bring in a giant clean water truck with a line that goes from the truck, down through the parking lot, hard lined into the building and comes out at the bar to make a safe drink.
"It cost some money yes, but it costs money to do business," Lowe said.
Some money, upwards of $5,000. Money well spent according to Lowe who is a staple in this community. Not only serving his customers but offering them spare water from the tank.
"Let them know we have some water if they want some water or are if there any people around who are not able to get water, we have some that we are willing to share," Lowe said.
That generosity will hold these guests over until the town clears them to drink from the sink again and after the last two years, Lowe lets the stress of the situation wash away.
"Well, I mean, we just came off COVID so this is kind of a small bump in the road you know compared to that," Lowe said. "But you might as well look at the bright side you know what I mean? And the bright side is that we have a full restaurant, we have a great team."