‘No contamination was detected’: Atlanta lifts boil water advisory

Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management has lifted a boil water advisory affecting about 50,000 customers.

The city department announced at 7:30 a.m. Saturday it had removed the alert that went in place Friday morning. The advisory area had included residents and businesses in downtown and in neighborhoods from Vine City to Grant Park.

A department spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday that 25 water samples were tested over an 18-hour period. Once all the samples were cleared, officials determined the water was safe to drink.

“Sampling results have confirmed that no contamination was detected in the public water system. Water may be used for all purposes without boiling. The city’s drinking water meets or exceeds standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as required by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act,” the department said in a statement.

The department previously said the advisory was prompted by an internal power failure at the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant and was issued “out of an abundance of caution.” Power was restored in the plant’s pump station, officials said Friday. That afternoon, the city also said water service had been restored to affected areas.

The alert included downtown as well as surrounding neighborhoods. Mechanicsville, parts of Inman Park, Peoplestown and Pittsburgh were within the range of the advisory.

Those who experienced outages or low pressure were told to boil water for at least a minute past a “rolling boil.” Officials encouraged people in the area to drink bottled water until the advisory was lifted.

A spokesperson for the watershed department did not respond to questions from the AJC about the cause of the power failure.

The Hemphill plant supplies potable water to homes, retailers and commercial and industrial businesses within the city and parts of south Fulton County. It also supplies water to fire hydrants around Atlanta, according to information on the watershed department’s website.

The boil water advisory impacted major sites in Atlanta. The World of Coca-Cola announced on social media that beverage dispensers at its “Taste It!” exhibit and Beverage Lab were temporarily unavailable. The downtown attraction said Friday tickets could be used for a future visit.

Georgia State University’s downtown campus was also within the advisory area and issued an alert to its students. An Atlanta Public Schools spokesperson said the district provided bottled water to students in buildings within the advisory area. Friday was the final class day of the school year.

Also on Friday, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper warned of a massive fish kill stretching at least 20 miles along the waterway near Atlanta. While it was not immediately clear if that incident and the drinking water warning are linked, officials said the fish kill is likely connected to heavy rains that caused flooding earlier this week.

The watershed department is participating in the fish kill investigation.