Dozens without service after DeKalb water main break

Water service was off for two dozen customers after a 6-inch main broke Thursday in DeKalb County, officials said.

Janice Phillips told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the busted pipe was in her front yard in the 1800 block of Georgian Terrace, near the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. She woke up to the gushing water at 6 a.m., she said.

“My neighbor called me, said there was a geyser in my front yard and it was flooding her backyard,” Phillips said. “I got up, got my key, and was ready to turn it off, and then I saw what it actually was, and I couldn’t do that.”

Crews with DeKalb Watershed Management responded just before 10 a.m. and worked to address the problem, which affected customers between Duncan and Skyland Drives.

Repairs were finished close to 4 p.m., Channel 2 Action News reported.

Phillips said workers were in the neighborhood Wednesday for a road paving project, and that water service was shut off for a time. She suspects something must have hit the main, but she doesn’t know what would cause it to shoot water 20 feet in the air.

“That’s what I'd like to know,” Phillips said.

DeKalb has seen its share of water woes. In March, a massive water main break in Doraville impacted customers all over the county and prompted school and business closures. Then came the boil orders.

Massive main break brings DeKalb another day of water woes
Impact of water main break in Doraville felt across DeKalb County

The break coincided with the resignation of its former Watershed Management director, Scott Towler. In a scathing resignation letter, he accused county leaders of urging him to make decisions that violate federal and state laws and leaving him out of meetings and decision-making once he resisted, The AJC previously reported.

MORE: DeKalb watershed director alleged 'unlawful actions' in resignation

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