The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers talks about what it will take to update the city’s water infrastructure – WSB-TV Channel 2

This was just one of many major breaks that occurred throughout the week. It took days of constant work, but the water came back and the boil water notices were lifted.

But now comes the hard work of trying to figure out how it won’t happen again and how much it could cost.

Alou Rice is an engineer with the US Army Corp of Engineers.

“We are here to help the city of Atlanta with its water mission,” Rice said.

Only Channel 2 Action News was with Rice as he toured the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

Dickens enlisted the corps’ help to begin the first detailed assessment of the city’s water infrastructure in decades.

And Rice told Elliot in an exclusive interview that a job like this wouldn’t be easy.

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“We do system assessments and find out what needs to be done as far as the age of the pipes, what pumps need to be replaced and things of that nature,” Rice said.

The body will develop a list of recommendations.

From there, a high-level committee led by former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will turn those recommendations into action.

In February, Franklin explained to Elliot how water was essential to a city.

“Because people want clean water. They wanted it then. They want it now and they will always want it,” Franklin said.

Rice said this will need to be both a short- and long-term plan.

“Then we will prioritize the projects that need to be done first, and then we will develop a capital improvement program. This could be a 10 or 15 year program where you have to do this every five years. Ten years, then 15 years to get there,” Rice said.

Franklin liked to call herself the “sewer mayor” because of her emphasis on infrastructure, but that was nearly 20 years ago.

Any major overhaul of old pipes and pumps will come with a hefty price tag.

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