The Moore County director of public works says it is purely coincidental that E. coli was detected in the county's water system just hours after Cary's problem surfaced.

The problem detected Friday night affects about 8,000 residential and business customers in Pinehurst and three nearby, unincorporated subdivisions, said Marcus Jones, the public works director.

As in Cary, customers in those areas are being advised to boil water, and restaurants were ordered to close.

"There lies our sense of urgency," Jones said. "We're having quite an impact on the business community."

Of 17 locations throughout Moore County sampled last week, E. coli was detected at one location.

After taking corrective measures -- increasing the amount of chlorine added to the water and flushing the system -- the county took new samples, which are being processed.

Those test results were expected to become available about midnight Saturday.

The cause of the problem is unknown, and it is possible that the test results were flawed, Jones said.