A dripping faucet. Photo by Danny Steaven. Source: Wikimedia commons

DeKalb County is going to try again this evening, July 25, to fix a water main break that has been frustrating residents for three days now. The latest update, from DeKalb …

Water Main Status Update

DECATUR, Ga. – DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management crews continue to work on a repair to a breach on a 48-inch main transmission line at Henderson Mill and Evans Road.

Although water pressure in the water system is near normal conditions, a breach remains, and repairs still must be made to the line at this location.

Watershed management will reduce pressure in the water system beginning this evening at 10:00 p.m.  Plans call for partial closing of the valves at 10 p.m. with the lowest pressure reduction expected at approximately midnight. At this time, no valves will be fully closed for this event, in order to minimize the impact to DeKalb County water customers. The emergency contractor that has been called in for assistance will provide additional pumps on site and the equipment needed to excavate the site for the repair. Normal water pressure will be restored as quickly as possible once the line is fixed.

In an abundance of caution for our citizens and to protect the public from any potential health hazards, a boil water advisory remains in effect for all DeKalb County water customers until further notice.  Citizens are advised to boil all water prior to use for drinking, cooking or preparing baby food.  The water should be boiled for at least one minute after reaching a rolling boil.  Residents served by the DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management should continue to boil water until notified by DeKalb County that the water system has been restored to full operation and the microbiological quality of the water is safe for human use.  After the test results are available, DeKalb County in conjunction with the EPD, will provide an update to the boil water status.

A CodeRED announcement of the boil water advisory was issued to subscribers beginning Saturday afternoon.

The water pressure issue began on Thursday, July 23. The county says a mower hit a fire hydrant on a 48 inch main transmission line at Henderson Mill and Evans Road. That led to drastically low or no pressure on Thursday evening and sporadically on the afternoon of Friday, July 24. Businesses opted to close early or stop serving food altogether while DeKalb County made the repairs. The city of Decatur had to close its Slide the City water slide event early.