The intersection at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard near J.P. Brawley Drive became one of the most important cross-streets in all of Atlanta over the weekend.It’s the point where three major water lines converge, serving a large part of the city. And it’s where a 48-inch line and a 36-inch transmission line burst Friday morning, and the subsequent repair has left many Atlantans without water or with very low pressure from their taps.
So, what happened and why are people still having to boil water? Essentially, the city is working on old pipes laid out in an old design, said Al Wiggins, Jr., commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management (DWM). And, after the pipes are repaired, the water must be tested by the state Environmental Protection Division to make sure it has no sediment or toxic chemicals.
The pipes that burst were made out of steel and more than 80 years old, Wiggins said at a press conference Saturday afternoon. He said he did not know when they were last replaced but said there had been other watershed work in the area in 2019. How the pipes were fitted together was not the most “efficient alignment” Wiggins said. “Therefore, there was a leak that occurred that caused corrosion of that pipe.”
Getting access to the pipes for repairs has also been difficult because of the design and tight space.”Because of that strict confinement, it makes it really difficult to get the proper alignment with these pipes,” Wiggins said. “These are large pipes, and it requires one person to be in the manhole working during that time, and so there is a significant degree of complexity.”
Aging pipes plague many American cities, and many choose to replace them in phases because of the expense and time it takes to do the work, according to a 2023 study by Utah State University professor Steven L. Barfuss. The study also states that the American Society of Civil Engineers gave water infrastructure in the U.S. a C-minus grade in 2021. Barfuss stated in his 2023 study that 20% of water pipes need to be replaced, to the tune of $452 billion.
About 20 years ago, then-Mayor Shirley Franklin began implementing a plan to update Atlanta’s sewer, water and storm water systems. She said the current problems the city is facing were unsurprising. “Given the age of the system and generally the lack of investment over 60 plus years and the likely increased demand, the continued need for investment and attention isn’t surprising,” Franklin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Atlantans seem to recognize the challenge. Earlier this month Atlanta voters backed the longstanding one-percent sales tax that funds water and sewer projects for another four years. The renewed tax is estimated to collect roughly $1.1 billion over the next four years. It will take effect in October and extend through September 2028. The lines at Boone and Brawley were not the only ones to break Friday and Saturday in Atlanta. Repairs are ongoing on pipes at the intersection of West Peachtree Street and 11th Street in midtown, which Mayor Andre Dickens called a “major break.” In addition, the city announced Sunday afternoon two more breaks.
But it’s the pipes under Boone Boulevard that have caused most of the ongoing issues because the three lines that intersect there had to be shut off for repairs to take place, Dickens said. It’s unclear how many residents have been left without water because some locations on a line might have multiple businesses. There are no defined geographical boundaries because different areas of the city are served by the pipes, Wiggins said. The DWM provides water to more than 1.2 million people, the division says on its website under “Fun Facts.”
Atlanta has about 3,000 linear miles of pipes and the DWM is “continuously replacing aging pipes,” according to Wiggins. But the area at Boone and Brawley was not previously slated for repairs because the department hadn’t collected any information that indicated it needed to do major work, he said. The crews that are repairing those pipes are now creating a different configuration to prevent such a major disruption to the city again.
But in the meantime, many Atlanta residents have had to turn to bottled water or stay with relatives in other cities just to have a flushing toilet or to safely brush their teeth. The Atlanta fire department has provided port-a-potties and bottled water at four fire stations. Code enforcement officers are making regular rounds to the downtown hotels and businesses that were impacted as well as checking on senior citizens according to Atlanta Fire Chief Roderick Smith. “We’re also making rounds to the local hospitals, those critical areas with chillers that may need assistance with us providing water or assisting them in cooling down operations in data centers,” Smith said.
And it’s not just residents and businesses that have been affected. Some police precincts and the 911 center are in areas without water, and the Atlanta Police Department has had to deliver water, food and supplemental restrooms to those locations, APD Chief Darin Schierbaum said. Police recruits were also canvassing senior citizen high-rises and other areas of the city to ensure they had what they needed from the city.
After hours of little to no communication early on from city officials following numerous water main breaks in Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens said Monday that he took criticism from the public “to heart.” Dickens made his first public appearance about 24 hours after many city residents started facing reduced water pressure or no service at all. “You know, the residents wanted to see more of me Saturday morning before the 2 p.m. press conference,” Dickens said during an interview with CNN. “I understand that and I apologize. We were trying to resolve it, and each time we thought we had it fixed, another leak would appear in that same area.”
Dickens said the city had “three iterations” of fixes. Then water starting coming back up, leading them to shut the system down. It was frustrating “to say the least,” he said. “We’re trying to resolve a situation,” the mayor added. “Nobody is happy when you can see water gushing out of the street.” During a news conference late Monday morning, Dickens and several city leaders spoke to the media, but the mayor did not take questions.
Crews are continuing to work on a broken main on West Peachtree Street in Midtown, with nearby residents warned of impacts to their water service as the crisis reached its fourth day. Water had been gushing out of the broken main until Monday morning, when workers were seen pumping out water. “Attention residents! There will be an interruption of water services for essential maintenance,” the city of Atlanta wrote early Monday, adding that crews were shutting off a pair of 36-inch and 30-inch water mains. “The impacted areas include: 11th St. from West Peachtree St. to Peachtree St. and West Peachtree St. from 10th St. to 12th St.”
Located across from the break on West Peachtree Street is Steamhouse Lounge, which will have to remain closed Monday, said owner Sam Weyman. He said he’s tried without luck to speak to police and city officials about the situation. “Nothing was happening (Sunday), nothing, zero, nothing, nothing,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday morning, before heading to where the work was being done.
Atlanta City Council member Antonio Lewis said his team will adjust its communication strategy going forward. “I think that the look ahead is to start fixing our water issues and infrastructure now,” he said during an interview with Channel 2 Action News. Lewis defended the city’s water department, saying crews were working tirelessly to fix the breaks, and noted the aging pipes. The ones that burst at the intersection at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard near J.P. Brawley Drive were made out of steel and more than 80 years old, said Al Wiggins Jr., commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management.
City officials said Monday that fixing a leak requires an arduous process of draining the ruptured area, making the repairs, then slowly waiting for the system to refill through the pipes to confirm that the fix holds against the restoring water pressure. Each step in the process takes multiple hours to accomplish. Original repairs Friday to the burst on Joseph E. Boone, which happened at a crucial junction point of multiple water lines, weren’t successful, which took crews and city officials by surprise.
The geyser that occurred later in the weekend at 11th and West Peachtree created even greater challenges. City officials said that the valve to turn off the rushing water was directly underneath the break on the surface and they made the call to let the flow continue instead of shutting off the water again to the entire area. On Sunday, Wiggins said authorities don’t know what caused that break, though they don’t believe it is connected to the other major one at Boone Boulevard.
Lewis said he understood the water issues in the city firsthand. Two years ago, he said pipes broke at his office along Cleveland Avenue and took almost a year to fix. Lewis said he would request a full report from the department at today’s 1 p.m. City Council meeting, which generally starts with public comment. “The future is now,” he added. “Our goal, my goal, is to get out ahead of there.”
He added that he’s encouraged that voters recently approved a continuation of the Municipal Optional Sales Tax. The longstanding 1% sales tax funds water and sewer projects for another four years. The Atlanta school system has canceled summer school and summer programs today due to the ongoing mess. In brighter news, Emory University Hospital Midtown and Grady Memorial Hospital announced that things are getting back to normal as did Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Megan Thee Stallion was able to take the stage Sunday at State Farm Arena after Friday and Saturday night shows had to be canceled, and Atlanta United’s soccer match against Charlotte went on as planned at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, albeit with limited food and beverage options.
Crews are continuing to work on a broken main on West Peachtree Street in Midtown, with nearby residents warned of impacts to their water service as the crisis reached its fourth day. Water had been gushing out of the broken main until Monday morning, when workers were seen pumping out water. “Attention residents! There will be an interruption of water services for essential maintenance,” the city of Atlanta wrote early Monday, adding that crews were shutting off a pair of 36-inch and 30-inch water mains. “The impacted areas include: 11th St. from West Peachtree St. to Peachtree St. and West Peachtree St. from 10th St. to 12th St.”
Located across from the break on West Peachtree Street is Steamhouse Lounge, which will have to remain closed Monday, said owner Sam Weyman. He said he’s tried without luck to speak to police and city officials about the situation. “Nothing was happening (Sunday), nothing, zero, nothing, nothing,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday morning, before heading to where the work was being done.
Atlanta City Council member Antonio Lewis said his team will adjust its communication strategy going forward. “I think that the look ahead is to start fixing our water issues and infrastructure now,” he said during an interview with Channel 2 Action News. Lewis defended the city’s water department, saying crews were working tirelessly to fix the breaks, and noted the aging pipes. The ones that burst at the intersection at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard near J.P. Brawley Drive were made out of steel and more than 80 years old, said Al Wiggins Jr., commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management.
City officials said Monday that fixing a leak requires an arduous process of draining the ruptured area, making the repairs, then slowly waiting for the system to refill through the pipes to confirm that the fix holds against the restoring water pressure. Each step in the process takes multiple hours to accomplish. Original repairs Friday to the burst on Joseph E. Boone, which happened at a crucial junction point of multiple water lines, weren’t successful, which took crews and city officials by surprise.
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