The city of Atlanta is attributing this week’s cold snap to the spate of water interruptions and low water pressure incidents occurring citywide.
Christmas Eve brought the coldest weather in nearly a decade to metro Atlanta as temperatures dropped to the single digits. Hundreds of homes citywide are experiencing low water pressure or no water service, according to Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management.
Commissioner Mikita Browning said the flood of service reports began Dec. 26.
“Over the past several days since Christmas Eve as temperatures plunged, we saw increased main breaks and we were able to address those utilizing both in-house crews and third-party resources,” Browning said Wednesday. “We’ve had main breaks within our public realm that are our purview, but we’ve seen an extreme amount of issues on the private side with private service lines that are either burst or frozen.”
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Atlanta City Hall transited to virtual operations last Friday through this entire week due to the inclement weather. Browning said the weather is also affecting high-rises, where flooding has occurred at times.
Browning said city departments are working with all hands on deck to ensure pump stations are operational.
Although the city hasn’t reported any major water issues requiring public building closures, a pipe burst at the Civic Center on Wednesday night caused delays in MARTA service.
Residents can wrap their outdoor water pipes in covers sold by hardware stores to avoid freezing and breaks, Browning said. In-ground sprinkler systems should be drained and above ground pipes covered to prevent freezing. She also advised residents to dribble their indoor faucets to reduce the chances for frozen pipes.
Residents can call 311 or 404-546-0311 to reach a city representative for assistance with water interruptions and low water pressure. Residents will have to listen to dial prompts when calling to report the outage.
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