Atlanta’s Boil Water Advisory Lifted For All Areas

Updated at 1:36 p.m. Tuesday

The city of Atlanta announced Tuesday afternoon that the water boil advisory has been lifted for all areas, stating samples indicated there was no contamination in the public water system.

Many Atlanta residents, and some in DeKalb County, were advised Monday to boil water before consuming, or cooking with it, following a problem at a city pumping station.

Water is now safe to be used for all purposed without boiling, the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management said in a statement.

In a later statement released Tuesday morning, the department said it had anticipated that “the boil water advisory will be in effect until at least 6 p.m. EST.”

The advisory was lifted at 1 p.m.

BOIL WATER ADVISORY LIFTED: The City of Atlanta has now lifted the boil-water advisory issued on Monday, December 3, for all areas. Samples taken in these areas confirmed there was no contamination of the public water system. Water may be used for all purposes without boiling. pic.twitter.com/yVanxMrpjv

— Atlanta Watershed (@ATLWatershed) December 4, 2018

Local news outlets report that much of the city lost water service, or experienced low water pressure Monday morning. Service was largely restored by the afternoon, but the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management cautioned people to boil water before consuming.

The statement said people who had experienced water outages or low pressure are “advised to boil all water prior to use, or use bottled water, for drinking, cooking, preparing baby food or brushing teeth.”

People were advised to boil the water for one minute past a rolling boil. Infants, the elderly and those with immune deficiencies should be particularly cautious.

The water outage stemmed from a problem at the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant and Pumping Station. While the issue was solved, the department said the advisory will remain in effect as water samples are tested.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the outage and subsequent boil water advisory disrupted businesses, restaurants and schools on Monday.

Restaurants served bottled drinks in place of fountain beverages. Dozens of Atlanta Public Schools did not serve students water Monday afternoon.

WABE contributed to this report