Milledgeville distributes water to residents as contractors begin repairing lines
Contractors began work Tuesday repairing water breaks in Milledgeville that left hundreds of residents without water after freezing temperatures hit Middle Georgia over the weekend.
The city opened three water distribution centers, including one on the grounds of the former Central State Hospital at 133 Shop Road, that began handing out cases of water bottles to residents around noon.
“About 5 o’clock on Christmas Day we knew our water levels were beginning to run low. We made the assumption that was because of residential and business leaks that showed up during the day as things thawed,” Milledgeville City Manager Hank Griffeth said. “We realized yesterday morning with the city system, we had a major failure somewhere. We’ve been working to isolate that and figure out where that is.”
Giffeth said the city isn’t sure when water will be fully restored to residents because the precise location of the major water leak hasn’t been located. The city believes it’s somewhere along a two-mile long 12-inch pipe.
“Current outages continue to include all of the area of the city’s system north of MLK Jr. Drive as well as that area west of the Highway 441 Bypass, including the Allenwood Subdivision and the Blandy Road area. We are consulting with our water and sewer engineering firm to assist us in hydrological engineering,” Griffeth said.
The city has issued a boil water advisory for people on the Milledgeville water system north of MLK Jr. Drive and west of the Highway 441 Bypass who have been without water since about 4 a.m. Dec. 26.
Residents should boil water for drinking, cooking or preparing baby food for at least one minute after it has reached a rolling boil. Residents should continue doing this until notified by the city that the water is safe. Any questions can be directed to the Milledgeville Water & Sewer Department at 478-414-4052.
The emergency phone number for water and sewer issues is 478-414-4000.
