Boil water advisory lifted in Atlanta after water system issues

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta residents no longer need to boil water before drinking it, officials said Thursday, six days after a water main break west of downtown -city affected the service and triggered the advisory.

Normal water flow and pressure were restored throughout the city on Wednesday, but it took longer to test for bacteria to ensure the water was safe to drink.

The first break occurred on Friday and was repaired on Saturday. A second leak that started later Friday was not repaired until Tuesday.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Wednesday he would support a plan to spend $5 million to reimburse businesses for losses suffered during the water outage. He also promised an assessment of the city’s infrastructure and the deployment of monitors to detect pipe leaks.

The boil water advisory never covered the entire city and was lifted Monday for most affected areas. But it remained in place in downtown and Midtown Atlanta as well as some east side neighborhoods.

The water outages in Atlanta are the latest example of infrastructure failure across the country. A 2022 crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, whose water system has long struggled, left many residents without running water for weeks. Other cities, including Flint, Michigan, have also struggled to provide their residents with clean drinking water.

The first-term Democratic mayor has been criticized for Atlanta’s response to the leaks, particularly because Dickens left the city after the first major leak to travel to Memphis, Tennessee, where he organized a fundraising drive. funds for his 2025 re-election campaign and met with city leaders. to discuss crime and other issues.

Dickens’ administration said it was unclear whether the first leak west of downtown would create a major disruption to the trip. A second major leak in the Midtown neighborhood began later Friday.

The Associated Press