Two simultaneous water main breaks snarled traffic in northern DeKalb County on Monday after the leaks caused ice to accumulate on major roadways.
There was minimal impact on service to nearby residences or businesses because of the holiday, but portions of busy roads were closed for hours.
VIDEO: More on DeKalb water problems
Ofelia deLaValette is owner of Dance 101 in the Brighten Park shopping center on Briarcliff Road near the North Druid Hills Road intersection that was closed for hours. She said customers had to get creative in order to find a back route to her shop for midday classes, but streets were cleared by the evening which is when the adult dance studio is busiest.
“It was more of an inconvenience than anything that was detrimental,” deLaValette said.
The second leak was found on a portion of Clairmont Road near Buford Highway, which also had to be shut down.
DeKalb Watershed Management Director Reggie Wells said both leaks were caused by breaks in aging pipes. Air temperatures hovered around 20 degrees, causing the pouring water to quickly freeze.
Motorists started calling 911 in the early morning after coming across slick roads, which is how the leaks came to the county’s attention.
Wells said workers prioritized getting the roads treated with sand before pivoting to finding the sources of the leaks and making repairs.
The break on North Druid Hills was caused by a crack in a six-inch pipe installed in 1949, according to county records. The Clairmont break was on a 30-inch pipe installed in 1941 that had been repaired previously but the patch failed, causing a geyser of water.
The county is in the process of implementing a $342 million program to improve its water system over several years, including replacing pipes made of asbestos cement, transmission lines and water meters.
Wells said water leaks are common in DeKalb, which has 3,000 miles of pipes forming a complicated public distribution system that then feeds into smaller lines service private property.
As watershed director, Wells is also responsible for addressing issues with the county's sewer system which operates separate from the water network. The number of sewer spills has spiked in recent weeks, mostly because of heavy rains at the end of 2018.
The county said there have been 22 sanity sewer overflows reported in 2019, an average of one a day. DeKalb spent $105 million in 2018 on sewer maintenance and repairs, including repairing pipes, rehabilitating problem areas, and clearing debris near pipelines.
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