Atlanta water crisis: Midtown water service slowly restored

ATLANTA - The City of Atlanta has experienced its fifth consecutive day of water issues due to a series of water main breaks around the metropolitan area.

The latest hit Martin Luther King Drive and Bakers Ferry Road on Tuesday. SKYFOX 5 flew over the scene where muddy water could be seen filling the street.

Crews lowered a 30-inch pipe into a hole at 11th and West Peachtree Street in Midtown and worked all day Tuesday to install it. By the evening, concrete was poured, and water service was being slowly restored.

LIVE UPDATES: W. Peachtree Street water pipe replacement in Midtown; boil advisory partially lifted

But for the majority of the day, water was cut off for a few blocks.

Some residents told FOX 5 they understood the outages were a necessary evil to get the repairs done.

"We're adjusting. It's temporary," said resident Zoe Dale. "We've been getting the water and the boiling water."

Residents like Dale have been stocking up on bottled water from the fire department while waiting for the water to turn back on. Many areas are still under a boil water advisory.

"I don't drive, so I haven't gotten to the store, to get an Uber, or bring a whole trolley to get some water," Dale said. "So, it's nice when I step outside of my place, they're offering water."

There has been no word yet on why the Midtown water main break happened on Friday.

City leaders said a major break that happened the same day downtown on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard was due to the use of pipes over 80 years old. Repairs at the location were completed by Saturday.

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Atlanta Watershed Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr. told FOX 5 the department was working on implementing a quality assurance team that will do more extensive repairs than in the past.

Over the weekend, Mayor Andre Dickens called in the Army Corps of Engineers to advise the city on its aging infrastructure.

Wastewater and Planning engineers from Savannah and Mobile, Alabama are also expected to be in place throughout the week to help advise the city on the best course of action to prevent more breaks in the future.

"Evaluating the system some of the problems that may exist with the system and then just some potential recommendations the city could pursue as they look at longterm how to deal with some of the infrastructure here in Atlanta," said Col. Matthew McCulley of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

As work continues in Midtown, residents told FOX 5 they hope the newly placed pipe means things will go back to normal soon.

"I hope it's temporary," said Dale. "It seems like it's lasting a long time, but I get that it's going to take some time to get everything sorted out."

Residents near this water main break should see the water system return to normal operation between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Watershed Management.