UPDATE: Decatur Schools are closed today.
Many Decatur residents woke up to no water this morning. And an announcement from the City Schools of Decatur that reads…
A county-wide water outage is impacting all of our schools. City Schools of Decatur will operate on a two-hour delay today, March 7, 2018, to give us time to assess the situation. All start times for schools and staff as well as scheduled bus pick-up times will be delayed by two hours. Students participating in early morning activities will be contacted by someone from their school. Please prepare for the possibility that school could be canceled. We will send updates as soon as we receive additional information
Over on the Oakhurst Facebook Message Board, Decatur residents are reporting low pressure to no water at all.
A water main break up on Buford Highway is causing the problem. DeKalb County is also now asking residents to boil water.
The outage seems to be somewhat isolated, as DeKalb County Schools noted that 15 of it’s schools were affected and that students would be transferred to other schools if water wasn’t restored.
Use this thread to report on your water situation and which businesses are impacted (or NOT impacted) by the low-to-no water situation.
Yep, no water at all in west Decatur.
Actually I heard that Chelsea Heights has water
I’m in Chelsea Heights and have no water.
Decatur Schools are closed.
We have water. We’re in Druid Hills across N. Decatur Rd. from Emory.
And I’m at work at Emory without water… Funny, the Emory website makes no mention of the water outage. I’m not sure of the hospital status.
DeKalb County Schools are sending kids home.
Early release times are:
Elementary schools – 10am.
High schools – 11:15 am
Middle schools – 12:15 pm
Northlake area no water.
People panicking at Kroger like it was the end of the world
Freelancer just got back from the emergency press conference. County hopes to have water pressure restored within 24 hours.
http://www.decaturish.com/2018/03/dekalb-county-hopes-to-restore-water-pressure-within-24-hours-boil-water-advisory-still-in-effect/
I’m off West Howard and at 12:45, we have water at nearly normal pressure.
We’re on Fairview (behind Taqueria del Sol) and we’ve got normal water pressure again as of 12:45 or so. Not treating it as potable yet, though.
I just drove through downtown Decatur. Every restaurant I passed was closed due to outage/boil advisory.
One of the things I love about Decatur is all our small businesses and local restaurants. This situation plus the snow days (a mere seven weeks ago) must be a real hit for some of these business owners. If you possibly can, try to throw a little extra business their way over the next few weeks!
Dancing Goats posted on Facebook they’d be opening at 2:00pm.
CSD is open tomorrow. Many restaurants are reopening tonight
http://www.decaturish.com/2018/03/water-main-break-update-csd-open-thursday-repairs-begin-restaurants-open-tonight/
Why can I no longer see comments on your website? Did something change?
Comments should still be there … I’m seeing them on my end in Chrome.
Will someone please explain the reason we are supposed to boil the water?
I’m not questioning the County saying that we should and I realize it’s “out of abundance of caution,” but I am wanting to understand why. Is it because they think contaminated water may have gotten past the break in the line? Thanks!
Basically, when there is insufficient water pressure, as that caused by a water main break, untreated water can flow back into the system from a variety of sources. That means bacteria and pathogens could be present (even if the water looks clear and has not discernible odor or taste). Note that the types of filters most folks have installed on their kitchen faucets or even whole-house water supplies do little to impede the flow of these contaminants. So boil (rolling for at least a full minute) or bottled is the way to go for anything you’re going to be putting in your body.
Backflow—The flow of water or other liquids, mixtures, or substances into the distributing pipes of a potable water supply from any source or sources other than the intended source. Back siphonage is one type of backflow.
Back siphonage—The flowing back of used, contaminated, or polluted water from a plumbing fixture or vessel into a potable water supply because of negative pressure in the pipe.