The Department of Watershed Management (DWM) has issued a boil water advisory for several areas including parts of the City of Atlanta, Union City, and others following a malfunction at the Adamsville Pumping Station. According to an announcement on the Union City official website, residents and businesses from Martin L. King, Jr. Drive south of I-20 down to the City of Fairburn, City of South Fulton, Chattahoochee Hills, Palmetto, and Union City are affected.
The precautionary advisory was declared due to a pump failure that has led to widespread water outages and varying water pressures within the impacted zones. This measure, DWM states, is a standard response in line with Georgia EPD guidelines to safeguard public health in such events. All residents and property owners experiencing water outages or low water pressure have been advised to boil their water before use or resort to bottled water for drinking, cooking, preparing baby food, or brushing teeth.
The guidelines for the boil water advisory detail that water should be vigorously boiled for one minute past achieving a rolling boil. The notice emphasizes that infants, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems should exercise particular caution. While the advisory suggests that handwashing or showering with soap and tap water should be safe for basic hygiene, it recommends using boiled or bottled water specifically for food preparation.
In an effort to resolve the situation, the DWM is undertaking flushing protocols for the system to eliminate any potential threats and has initiated sampling of the affected zones to verify water quality. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division will notify DWM when it is safe to lift the boil water advisory. In the meantime, the public is urged to maintain the boil water precautions. Notably, the DWM's advisory sternly reminds the public not to drink from any public water fountains in the impacted area until the advisory is formally retracted.
