Atlanta Water Crisis | City Leaders Discuss Prevention

ATLANTA — Atlanta city leaders met Tuesday at City Hall to discuss the recent disruptions caused by multiple water main breaks. The discussion focused on potential solutions and preventative measures to ensure the reliability of the city’s water infrastructure.

Atlanta City Council member Antonio Lewis stressed the urgency of the problem.

“We need to address the root cause of the city’s water main breaks,” he said.

The first incident, which occurred on May 21, impacted small businesses in Atlanta for several days. More recently, a water main break on July 4 left residents in Buckhead without water, impacting many residents during the holiday.

Devin Barrington-Ward was among three public speakers urging city leaders to address what he described as a critical problem.

“We know this can happen again,” Barrington-Ward said, questioning the preparations being made to prevent future incidents.

He pointed out that since 2022 there has been an increase in water losses within the system.

“I haven’t seen the numbers for 2023,” he said.

The water advisory committee noted that the Army Corps of Engineers is already assessing the city’s infrastructure, a project expected to take 18 months. In the meantime, the city has implemented artificial intelligence sensors to detect areas in need of urgent repairs.

“These sensors will alert us early on to small cracks that could turn into leaks,” said one committee member. “We look at this matrix of the age and criticality of the pipes. For example, if there’s a very old pipe that’s feeding a hospital, we’re not going to wait for the Army Corps of Engineers to come out and do the field work.”

Despite these efforts, council members and the public remain concerned about the timing and effectiveness of these measures. The full evaluation conducted by the city, in collaboration with the Army Corps of Engineers, is expected to take more than a year.