Many in metro Atlanta still without running water after holiday freeze

JACKSON, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - – Thousands across north and central Georgia still do not have running water after the weekend freeze caused countless water main breaks.

“Walked in the restaurant and they say they don’t have any water due to the water burst,” said Antoine Simpson, who was trying to eat dinner with his family in Jackson. “So, right now you look around there are a lot of places closed, so we just don’t have nothing to eat,” he said.

Butts County officials said roughly 12,500 residents are without running water in downtown Jackson and in the eastern part of the county. Another 12,500 residents have limited running water in the western part of Butts County, according to Alyssa Hopson, General Manager of the Butts County Water & Sewer Authority.

Hopson said they still have not located the source of the major water main break, which they believe is causing the widespread shortage of water.

“In order to protect customers from a potential health hazard, all customers that have experienced water outage and/or low water pressures are advised to boil all water prior to use for drinking, cooking, or preparing baby food,” said the County in a release posted to their office door.

Officials said they’re urging the public to report any major water main breaks.

“To not have any water, and to not have any answers behind that – and they don’t know where to search or where to go, the first place to even find it, so that’s another aggravation right there,” said Sam Bennett, who lives in Jackson and has been without running water since 8 a.m. Monday.

The water supply issue in Butts County is also impacting some residents in north Monroe County.

“A Boil Water Advisory is being issued for all residents on the North Monroe County Water System,” according to a social media post by the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.

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The Butts County Weather System serves part of Monroe County.

“The advisory applies to any residences on Johnstonville Road and north of Johnstonville Road other than the River Forest, Riata, and River Walk subdivisions,” according to the social media post.

In Clayton County, firefighters handed out bottled water at four different fire stations Monday evening to help those with little to no running water.

At Fire Station 4 in Riverdale, they ran out of water by roughly 8 p.m.

“It’s getting a little dire, a little scary,” said Aliyah Hughes, who was told to go to another fire station for bottled water.

“I’m going to give it one more day and then I’m going to say we need to probably go to a friend’s house or family member who has running water – because what do we do, we have to use the bathroom,” said Hughes, with her daughter in the passenger seat.

County officials said they still had water at Station 2 and Station 14 in Ellenwood, along with Station 12 in Jonesboro.

According to the Clayton County Water Authority website:

“Staff continues troubleshooting and finding leaks, mainly in customer service lines. These breaks would have been caused by the below freezing temperatures and continues to impact our distribution system. This has led to low pressure or no water service for customers in several parts of the county.

If a customer has a leak, they should report the leak immediately at 770-960-5200 (listen to the entire message and then select “0″) or via private message on our Facebook page @ClaytonCountyWater.”

Officials issued a boil water advisory Dec. 25 for customers with low pressure. Once water service is restored for customers without service, they will need to follow the boil water advisory as well.

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