Atlanta Watershed Management expects boil advisory to end by Saturday afternoon
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Part of the City of Atlanta is under a boil water advisory on Friday, according to the watershed management department.
“Out of an abundance of caution we must issue a boil water notice. You can still flush toilets with it. You can boil it for one minute and use it, but we don’t recommend you use that water without taking those precautions,” said Greg Eyerly, Atlanta’s commissioner of Watershed Management.
The advisory was enacted due when two pumps shut off during a power failure at the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant, the city’s oldest and largest water treatment facility.
“By the time we were able to get other pumps up and running, took about an hour, pressures dropped in some parts in the city. Some pressure censor locations dropped below 20 PSIs,” said Eyerly.
That drop forced the city to issue the boil water advisory.
“I got up at like 4 o’clock in the morning and I usually get a drink of water and there was no water pressure, that’s when I knew this is weird,” Inman Park resident Dave Darling said.
The advisory will remain in effect until midday on Saturday. Atlanta leaders said water pressure is also back to normal.
Approximately 50,000 customers are in the impacted area, according to the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.
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“Here we go again. It seems like it’s becoming a recurring thing that we all have to work through. And I know that they’re working hard on it, and hopefully they’ll get it fixed, but it costs us money, it costs everybody money, especially on a holiday weekend,” said Johnny Martinez, co-owner of Joystick Gameback.
Martinez was referencing the 6-day boil water advisory in Atlanta after a major water main break.
Officials urge residents in the impacted area to boil all water before using it or use bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing their teeth.
>> WATCH THE LATEST ON THE ADVISORY BELOW:
The advisory is in place until further notice as officials continue to sample the water.
Eyerly said they expect results by noon on Saturday. They will issue a notice as soon as they know if they can lift the advisory.
Georgia State University said the advisory is impacting its Atlanta campus. The World of Coca-Cola has also closed its Taste It! and Beverage Lab exhibits, the two areas where guests can drink beverages. The Georgia Aquarium said its impacts are minimal.
On Thursday, the city’s watershed management department posted a video on social media detailing a project to replace the treatment plant’s utility switchgear, which supports the electrical distribution system.
“These upgrades also help provide reliable water pressure for fire protection and reduce the potential for boil water advisories by defending against contaminants entering the system,” Spokesperson Jacinta Render said in the video.
It’s unclear if Friday’s outage is connected to the project.
“We believe we’ve isolated what those issues that caused this particular power outage, but it’s a perfect example of why we need to continue to invest in our infrastructure,” said Eyerly, when asked if the improvements highlighted in the social media video played a part in the power outage.
This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First as we learn more.
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