Atlanta — The City of Atlanta is warning that there could be widespread water outages next week, as it repairs a leaking major water pipe. It could impact midtown residents, fire stations, the airport and even hospitals.
The delicate job of repairing a leak in a 100-year-old water pipe near one of Atlanta's major pumping stations could force you to drink bottled water starting next Wednesday if anything goes wrong.
But taking no chances, Watershed Management is cautioning everyone to be ready just in case.
The 36-inch leaking water pipe feeds a system that supplies 65 percent of Atlanta's drinking water used by residents and businesses including Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Fire Rescue, and area hospitals.
“Most of these critical facilities are getting tankers they will fill to be able to meet their water needs at the facilities,” said Kishia Powell, Atlanta Commissioner of Watershed Management.
Atlanta Fire Rescue says they have contingency plans in place, and Hartsfield-Jackson tells 11Alive they have a 10-million-gallon reserve Reservoir to tap into if Atlanta's water supply is interrupted.
The repair, which should take two days is not without risks.
“The risks are there now. it gets riskier when we start cutting on the pipe,” Powell added.
If something should go wrong, Watershed will issue immediate bulletins.
“We would immediately shut the pumps off and I would be issuing a boil water advisory. But we will not be able to get the pumps back on quickly so that means that we will be calling for an immediate water restriction prohibiting most uses,” Powell said.
Atlanta Watershed Management says it will issue up-the-minute advisories on any water disruptions starting next Wednesday. You can find them on at AtlantaGa.gov and through social media.
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