Water shut off to all city of Eatonton, school canceled

EATONTON, Ga. - The city of Eatonton will be without useable water for what could be two days due to a significant water main break, officials said. Putnam County Schools has decided to close Tuesday as a result.

Putnam County Schools are canceled for Tuesday. Students and teachers get the day off, 12-month employees are asked to report to the high school.

A water main broke near the Uncle Remus Golf Course off Hambone Holle Drive. Crews had to shut off the water to make the repairs.

"This was such a large leak, between 3 and 500 gallons a minute, which 750,000 gallons a day and with that volume coming out, you'd have to shut it down you couldn't drain the hole quick enough to get the clamps on," said John Eddlemon with ESG Operations.

Crews worked through the dark and rainy night.  It's not an easy fix.

"It's about 15 feet deep and the weather doesn't help. It's right on the side of a railroad track so it's a difficult location to get in and out of," said Eddlemon.

The hospital put its emergency plan into effect.  

"The hospital has ordered a tanker of water and portable toilets," said Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills.

The fire department has water on its trucks and can get water from outside the city limits if necessary.

Some businesses closed early and restaurants were shut down.

"The healthy inspector came in and said we had to shut down, it was a hazard," said Nicole Head who works at Pizza Hut.

Once the repairs are made, a boil water advisory will go into effect for all of Eatonton. That could last up to 48 hours.