Social media fury erupts as Atlanta water outage drags on

As much of the city waits for water service to return after a rupture near Downtown Atlanta on Friday, residents are venting their frustrations on social media.

City officials’ communication — or lack thereof — has drawn most of the criticism after Atlantans woke up without both water and any new updates on its restoration. Mayor Andre Dickens acknowledge the complaints and apologized for the lapses in communication at a press conference Saturday afternoon.

“I will be candid that overnight we did not do the best job of communicating,” Dickens said. “We could have done a better job over the past day. And for that, I apologize in how we have not been able to give you as much up to date information as possible.”

About 12 hours passed from Friday to Saturday without any additional information, until the City of Atlanta shared on Instagram that repairs on the break near Joseph E. Boone Boulevard had been completed. The post was later deleted, adding to the confusion.

Dickens made his first statement around 11:20 a.m. Saturday, posting on X, formerly Twitter, to say the city was dealing with two major breaks. Many users responded to him to say the update was insufficient.

Dickens has since sent a message to residents through the city’s emergency notification system.

“We know this is impacting your businesses and weekend plans, and have mobilized all city resources to fix this issue ASAP,” he said. “Thank you for your patience and please continue to follow updates on our website and social media channels.”

DWM also sent a message through the emergency text line.

Several elected officials have acknowledged problems with the city’s responsiveness.

City Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari said more timely updates are needed. She offered the first apology from an elected official about the delays.

City Councilman Amir Farokhi was also critical of the city’s response, posting on X that residents “deserve better.”

Dickens said he was out of town Friday and had just returned to the city but had been receiving updates on the situation while he was away. He said officials initially believed the repairs could be completed more quickly and planned to update once they were.

“We thought the solution was closer than it was,” he said.

Dickens said the city and water officials now plan to give updates every two hours until the situation is resolved.

The Atlanta Department of Watershed Management will post updates on their social media accounts, on X at @atlwatershed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/atlwatershed. Updates will also be shared on the city’s social media pages, on X at @CityofAtlanta and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofatlanta.

Dickens also encouraged Atlantans to sign up for text alerts by texting “NotifyATL” to 888777.

The city’s website was updated Saturday afternoon with information about the water main breaks. DWM’s website remained down down and inaccessible.

Holly Frew, who lives in Chosewood Park, said she found the communication from the city “horrendous” and confusing. She said she wished Dickens had spoken publicly sooner.

Rockwell Hunter, who lives in Grant Park, said he watched the mayor’s press conference and was happy to see him acknowledge the communication breakdown. Hunter said he hopes the city learns from this, and reflects on why the emergency notification system wasn’t used earlier.

“I get a text message via NotifyATL every time there is a major thunderstorm in the area, as well as when garbage service has been delayed,” Hunter said in an email. “But the one time there was a major incident related to a service provided by the city, it took them until noon the following day to send the notification. This is baffling to me.”