The broken 36-inch water line that resulted in authorities issuing a 24-hour boil water advisory for South Cobb residents was identified a month ago by the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority as one that needed to be replaced.
Glenn Page, general manager of the authority, said the pipe on Maner Road near Plant Atkinson Road in Smyrna suffered corrosion failure and had been recently evaluated for replacing. The authority on May 21 received a report from a consultant about the water line’s condition. The authority was in the process of moving ahead with the replacement when Tuesday’s break happened.
“We weren’t surprised, but you can’t prepare for a catastrophic failure like that and keep the system operating,” he said Wednesday in a telephone interview.
The line broke around 4 a.m., and crews were able to turn off the water. Later in the morning, all residences and business south of Macland and Windy Hill roads to Interstate 75, including SunTrust Park, were advised to boil any water used for food and drinks. That directive was lifted late Wednesday morning.
It didn't affect Tuesday's operations at SunTrust Park during the Atlanta Braves game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Beth Marshall, Atlanta Braves spokeswoman, said the organization took necessary precautions such as turning off all water fountains, ice machines and other fountains throughout the park and The Battery Atlanta. It also notified tenants of the advisory.
The Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority is a wholesaler that sells water to local governments. It does not sell directly to the public and does not issue any water bills. The Cobb County Water System buys water from the authority and distributes it to more than 180,000 homes and businesses in Acworth, Kennesaw, Austell, Smyrna and Powder Springs and unincorporated Cobb County, according to its website.
Page said Tuesday’s break was a “major failure event on a major line” that serves a large part of the area. When the line under Maner Road experienced a loss of pressure following the break, Page said there was a risk that lines immediately surrounding the area could have been impacted, which is why the authority issued the advisory for the south Cobb area.
“We just wanted to make sure that we weren’t putting any customers at risk,” Page said.
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The county continues to repair the water line and evaluate areas surrounding the faulty main. Page said the authority is concerned more pipes in the same area may also be corroded, which might lead to Tuesday’s situation repeating itself. Those areas will have to be evaluated and repaired before the county puts the line back in service.
Page said the authority is evaluating the cost to replace between 1,200 to 1,500 linear feet of pipe in the area, which he said could cost of between $500,000 to $1 million.
It took a few hours between the time crews stopped the water flow and when the authority issued the advisory. Some social media users affected by the advisory said they’d already used the water as part of their morning routine. County spokesman Ross Cavitt said the gap was because it took some time for officials to analyze water pressure data in lines belonging to both the system and the water authority. When the information came in that indicated low water pressure, the authority recommended the boil water advisory and the county proceeded accordingly, Cavitt said.
Since it has to follow Georgia Environmental Protection Division guidelines, Page said the authority has to walk through a set of rules before it can issue a boil water advisory. After the break was reported, the county had the water turned off by 6:15 a.m. and were on the phone with the EPD between 8:30-9 a.m. The advisory was announced around 10 a.m.
“These things don’t happen very much,” he said, adding this was the first time in his 32 years with the authority that the agency had to issue a boil water advisory. “They are big news when they happen.”
Page added the water authority is made up of a group of professionals who work to take care of public health and safety.
“While we hate what happened, the decision to do a boil water notice was to protect the public health,” he said.
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