Water again safe to drink after outage in Georgia town

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - The water is running and safe to drink again in a central Georgia city after a broken pump left the city unable to pump enough water for residents.

Milledgeville announced Saturday that a boil-water advisory is no longer in effect after lab tests showed that the city’s water supply is safe for human consumption. The city of 17,000 earlier restored water pressure, but had to test the water before lifting the order to boil.

The problem began Monday when the motor in the city’s largest water pump stopped working.

The inability to pump enough water left city tanks mostly dry by Tuesday, meaning many customers had little or no water. The Union-Recorder of Milledgeville reports Baldwin County schools canceled class and the local hospital canceled elective surgeries because of a lack of water.

The city handed out nearly 2,500 cases of drinking water, and distributed nondrinking water from a tanker truck for uses such as flushing toilets.

A new portable pump was trucked in from New Jersey. The city will lease the pump until its own is repaired in coming weeks, said Water and Sewer Department Director Robert Hadden.