A history of past emergencies related to water breaks

A water main break near downtown Atlanta caused one of the most severe water service disruptions the city of Atlanta has seen, but with legacy water and infrastructure infrastructure The city’s sewer is certainly not the first.

In recent years, boil water notices have been common after water main breaks, and some outages have been due to traffic events, like the sinkhole that swallowed an SUV near the show. Mary Mac’s tea on Ponce last summer.

Follow updates on Atlanta’s water emergency at ajc.com

And voters’ recent renewal of Atlanta’s water and sewer sales tax came with a reminder that the municipal optional sales tax, or MOST, first instituted in 2004, is used to fund water and sewer improvements ordered following a federal water lawsuit. quality violations. DeKalb County, which has its own watershed department, has its own history of water infrastructure failures.

Here are some of the recent issues with water main breaks in the metro Atlanta area. This is a list selected from many others.

July 2023: Sinkhole saga raises questions about city infrastructure. A huge sinkhole on Ponce de Leon Avenue swallowed up a car last Tuesday after a broken sewer pipe about 18 feet below the street caused the roadway to collapse. Fortunately, the two passengers inside escaped without injuries and city crews worked around the clock to patch the hole. But the new sinkhole saga raises a series of questions about the state of Atlanta’s infrastructure, which is already causing headaches for drivers trying to navigate the city’s potholed roads. Read the full story

December 2022: Problems attributed to cold weather led to problems in four metro Atlanta counties. At least four counties in metro Atlanta have issued boil water advisories after frigid weekend temperatures disrupted their water systems, with one planning to distribute water bottled water to residents. Water issues were reported in Atlanta, Fulton County, DeKalb, Clayton and Forsyth. Learn more.

June 2020: Boil water advisory followed water main break near Georgia Tech. A boil water notice was needed in the city of Atlanta and South Fulton County after a water main break on the Georgia Tech campus led to widespread outages. Learn more

February 2020: Part of Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail closed for sinkhole repairs. The trail was closed just north of Krog Street Market and south of Montag Circle. The city’s Watershed Management Department was called in to assess the problem and determine what repairs were needed. Learn more

March 2019: A massive water main break impacts South Fulton County. Up to 100,000 water customers were under a boil water advisory after a water main break near Fairburn and Cascade roads. The outage affected water usage in parts of Chattahoochee Hills, South Fulton, Union City and Fairburn. Read the full story. RELATED: Water users express frustration with Atlanta watershed’s response.

December 2018: Boil water advisory issued in the city of Atlanta after an issue at the Hemphill Water Plant. Large parts of the city were without water Monday morning after a problem at an Atlanta water treatment plant and pumping station, officials said. The city said in a statement that due to a “control issue” at the Hemphill water treatment plant and pumping station, some areas had low or no water pressure. Learn more.

Atlanta water outage in December 2018 was linked to system-wide leaks. A water outage that disrupted Atlanta’s water system for more than a day has its roots in a problem that has long plagued the city: how to stop water from leaking out of a system run down? Read the full story

March 2018: 48-inch water main break near Buford Highway causes problems in DeKalb. Around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, a four-foot water main ruptured near Buford Highway and I-285 in Doraville, creating a lake on one of metro Atlanta’s main thoroughfares. Georgia’s fourth-largest county spent much of the day dealing with water outages and low pressure, not to mention concerns about sanitation conditions. Learn more

May 2016: Power outage blamed on storms affecting Atlanta water stations; boil water advisory issued. Major storms caused electrical power outages, leading to a temporary loss of pressure in the drinking water network at two pumping stations. A boil water advisory has been issued for an area including downtown Atlanta and Avon Avenue to the south, Holtzclaw Street to the east and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard to the west. Learn more