Officials in Atlanta were slowly pressurizing the city’s water system on Saturday after rusting water pipes burst in downtown and midtown, forcing many businesses and attractions to close and affecting water supplies to area homes.
The city distributed cases of water and set up portable toilets at several fire stations. First responders checked high-rise homes to see if the elderly or other vulnerable residents were doing well.
“Water is a valuable, critical resource and cities cannot function and lives cannot function without it,” Mayor Andre Dickens said during a press conference Saturday morning. “It’s definitely at the top of our list.”
During a second press conference on Saturday evening, Dickens announced that he had declared a state of emergency due to the situation. The mayor said that while crews had made significant progress in repairing the first water main break, they had difficulty with the second break in Midtown.
“We’re still working through the second major outage… the repair there has been a little more complicated for a few reasons… We don’t have an estimate of a timeline for that work yet,” Dickens said.
And Saturday evening, the mayor’s office said in a statement that crews had “completed multiple rounds of repairs” and that the “system is being gradually brought back online to allow for the restoration of system pressure.”
A boil water advisory was still in effect for much of Atlantahowever, until the Georgia Environmental Protection Division determines that the advisory may be withdrawn.
The Georgia State Capitol, the Georgia Supreme Court and Atlanta City Hall were without water service Friday, according to CBS affiliate WANF-TV.
Some attractions and businesses, including the Georgia Aquarium and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, remained closed Saturday.
“The citywide water problem continues to impact the Aquarium and many others in the area. This does not affect our animals, but it does affect our guest areas such as toilets,” the aquarium wrote on the social platform X.
The aquarium was expected to reopen on Sunday, according to WANF.
The water main break also forced rapper Megan Thee Stallion to move her concert from Friday to Sunday.
“I’m extremely disappointed because I had a huge surprise for the Hotties tonight, but we will follow the mayor’s protocol,” she said. Posted on X. “Praying for the people who lost access to water due to this situation.”
The problems started Friday morning when water gushed into the street where three major water mains cross downtown, causing water problems at two hospitals, a city jail, a county jail and local shelters. A separate breach later occurred in Midtown, compounding the problem.
Officials were widely criticized for being slow to inform citizens of the situation. The city and its water management department sent an update after 8 p.m. on Friday and waited more than twelve hours to inform residents again. Dickens did not address the media until 2 p.m. on Saturday, explaining that he was in Memphis when the problem started.
Someone in the affected area posted flyers nearby asking, “Don’t have water?” and “Help us find our mayor.”
Dickens promised updates every two hours until the situation is resolved.
“We did not communicate well overnight. We could have done better last day, and for that I apologize,” he said.
Residents were asked to limit water consumption so that the pressure in the system could increase again.
“We certainly understand the urgency of restoring water service, but we also want to make sure we do so in a way that does not cause further deterioration in our work,” said Al Wiggins Jr., commissioner of the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, during a meeting. Saturday press conference. “Every water company is a vulnerable structure.”
He said he hoped service would be fully restored on Saturday, but he could not guarantee this.
The city urged people to check on elderly or sick neighbors and relatives.
“The entire city government has been mobilized to tackle this problem,” the water department said on Friday.
