A day later, residents and business owners were still waiting for their water to be restored.
Jared Winn left his condo in downtown Atlanta to stay with relatives because he had been without water service since noon Friday.
“There is currently no end in sight,” he said.
Videos posted on X showed the results of additional water pipe breaks Friday night.
The most recent update from the Atlanta Watershed Department was posted nine hours ago.
A possible water main break is being investigated near 1190 Atlantic Dr. NW.
It could result in a temporary interruption of water service for residents and businesses.
Additional updates will be provided as more information becomes available. #DWMatWork #ATLWatershed pic.twitter.com/DV45l3RJkr
– Atlanta Watershed (@ATLWatershed) June 1, 2024
On Friday, Grady Memorial Hospital canceled appointments, offices in Atlanta and Fulton County closed, attractions like the Georgia Aquarium closed, and a Megan Thee Stallion concert at State Farm Arena was canceled.
Water service was shut off across much of the city Friday afternoon to allow for repairs. The DWM did not provide a timeline for restoring service, but asked all customers in the area to restrict water use immediately to allow system pressure to recover. .
“Running a garden center without water” was NOT on my bingo card this week,” said Kacey Cloues, owner of Garden*Hood, an independent retail plant nursery in Grant Park. “Our entire business is selling plants, and on hot days we water our entire inventory twice a day. Needless to say, the thought of not having access to water is something I have nightmares about.”
As of Friday night, Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer Tour stop at State Farm Arena was still open for Saturday and Friday tickets will be accepted on Sunday.
The outages caused widespread disruption. The Gathering Spot, a networking center and co-working space on North Avenue, closed around 1 p.m. Friday, according to CEO Ryan Wilson. The space is about a mile from the water main at the intersection of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and JP Brawley Drive, where DWM crews are working on the largest water main break.
The Atlanta Tech Village coworking space experienced low or no water pressure, according to David Cummings, co-founder of ATV and one of the owners of a large real estate portfolio in the South Central.
“We’re encouraging people not to come unless it’s necessary,” Cummings said. “Hopefully it’s a quick fix!”
April Woods, 4, watches a water main break at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and James P. Brawley Drive in Atlanta on Friday, May 31, 2024. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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Dina Brennan of Sheppard & Tucker at the Atlanta Apparel Center said she was concerned about a trade show that starts Monday.
“Today we stayed as long as we could in our showroom until security kicked us out; We were told that if there was a fire the sprinkler systems would not work,” Brennan told the AJC. “Hopefully city leaders will work 24/7 to fix this problem. “For us, and for many people who work downtown, this is urgent and our livelihood depends on the success of these trade shows.”
The water outages are also affecting visitors staying at the many hotels in downtown Atlanta. An employee at Hyatt House Atlanta on Marietta Street said the water was affected, but did not share details or say whether guests were moved to other locations.
Some guests staying at the Omni Hotel in Centennial Park canceled their reservations due to a lack of water, according to a front desk employee. The hotel recommended they stay at the Signia by Hilton Atlanta, near the Georgia World Congress Center, because that property still had water service.
An operator at the Signia confirmed that guests came from other hotels, but could not say how many moved.
The water problems also affected dozens of Atlanta restaurants. Restaurants in Little Five Points, Downtown, Grant Park, Old Fourth Ward, West End, East Atlanta, Midtown, Inman Park and Candler Park were forced to close due to water outages or low water pressure.
ExploreWater Major Breaks Force Numerous Atlanta Restaurants to Close Friday
Operations were halted throughout Krog Street Market, whose vendors include Superica, Ticonderoga Club, Little Tart Bakeshop and Fred’s Meat & Bread, among others. Heading into what was expected to be a busy weekend, the timing is not ideal for restaurants.
Paul Calvert of the Ticonderoga Club said he anticipates losing at least $10,000 from Friday’s closure.
“It’s especially difficult now with our initiative to offer staff a good salary and health benefits,” he said. “With the cost of everything from fish to limes to bedding rising, every detail is essential. “We can’t afford to lose a Friday night.”
Calvert also lamented the “thematic connection” of this unexpected closure to the burst pipe that forced a months-long shutdown in December 2022.
Chris Mangianello, water policy director for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and a Kirkwood resident, described the broken water pipes as “huge” and said repairing them would require significant mobilization of equipment and work crews. Mangianello has a doctorate in environmental history and is the author of the book “Southern Water, Southern Power.”
“This is a situation that should remind everyone that water infrastructure really matters,” Mangianello said. “It requires continued investment. “It’s really expensive to build, it’s really expensive to operate and maintain… We can’t take for granted the workers and the pipes that bring water to our family homes every day.”
Shortly after 2 p.m., the DWM issued a boil water advisory “out of an abundance of caution.” The advisory affects any Atlanta water customer who has experienced a water outage or low water pressure.
Credit: Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
Credit: Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
The second water main break is a few miles east at 2922 Glenwood Avenue. At 9:30 p.m. the water service remained cut off.
On East Beechwood Drive near Vinings, water was shut off for hours due to a water main break. Shortly before 7 p.m., the DWM announced another broken water main at 2294 Havenridge Drive in the Peachtree Battle neighborhood. Both have since been repaired.
The largest water main break is near the intersection of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and JP Brawley Drive, causing water outages or low water pressure in the utility’s downtown service area. said the DWM.
“Crews are on site and working aggressively” to restore the water, according to the statement.
Adding to the list of problems plaguing the city, construction work punctured or ruptured a gas line along Marietta Street near the Georgia Tech campus, a school spokesperson confirmed around 5:30 p.m. . The building at 755 Marietta Street and the Stamps Health Services building on Ferst Drive were evacuated as a precaution and cleared for re-entry around 9:30 p.m. Foot traffic on campus has been light since graduation and the start of summer classes in early May.
A geyser of water steadily surged from beneath Joseph E. Boone Boulevard for hours, accumulating across the entire width of the road. A growing group of workers gathered at the site, some of them standing next to a red mini-excavator.
Grady Memorial Hospital canceled all appointments for the day and employees reported water outages at Emory University Hospital Midtown. As of Friday afternoon, the water outage had not yet caused the need to transfer any hospitalized patients at Grady, according to hospital spokeswoman Danielle Hackett.
Grady also does not turn away patients in the emergency room, and the level of care in the emergency room is not affected by the disruption. An Emory Healthcare spokeswoman said she was also unaware of any patients who needed to be transferred from her facility.
The Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta was evacuated and is temporarily closed, the attraction said on its website.
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The Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, a neighbor of the Georgia Aquarium, also closed for the day. The Georgia World Congress Center is being affected by the water outage, but it is unclear if the massive complex has closed completely.
All Fulton County government facilities, including the courthouse, remained closed for the day. The Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals closed early.
As a result of a major water main break in the city of Atlanta, water service has been interrupted in a large area of the city. All downtown Fulton County facilities will close this afternoon effective immediately. pic.twitter.com/k1SQSMCY6Q
– Fulton CountyGeorgia (@FultonInfo) May 31, 2024
Atlanta police released some administrative staff, but a spokesperson said their emergency services were not affected.
ExploreWhat to do (and what not to do) during a boil water advisory
— Come back to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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