The advisory was issued after a water main break near North Habersham Middle School. Crews are still on the scene repairing the line. Proceed with caution when driving through the area.
A boil water advisory is in effect until further notice for Clarkesville water customers north of the city. The advisory affects homes and businesses in the following areas: Walls Bridge Road, Walls Bridge Loop, Tech School Road, Eldorado Village and North Habersham Middle School.
Clarkesville Public Works Superintendent Jeremy Garmon says the advisory is a precaution. It was issued after crews opened a water line near the intersection of Walls Bridge Road and Tech School Road to repair a leak. “We had a gasket failure on a fitting and we’ve had to cut the water off and take out a piece of pipe,” Garmon says. “When we expose the whole section of line we have to call for a boil advisory.”
The problem first surfaced this morning when a minor leak was detected in the line near North Habersham Middle School. “We monitored the leak to keep from cutting the school out of water and broke into the line at 3:30pm,” Garmon says. Crews were still on the scene at 7:30pm Wednesday and a number of homes were still without water.
Garmon says he expects full service to be restored by late Wednesday night and the water line should be fully operational by the time students and faculty return to North Habersham Middle School in the morning.
Garmon says there’s no known contamination in the line at this time. Water samples are being sent to a lab for testing. In the meantime, Clarkesville city water customers who live in the affected areas are advised to boil their water before using it for drinking, cooking or preparing baby food. Water should be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute before it’s consumed.
Crews worked late into the evening repairing the broken pipe.
