Water service has been completely restored to customers along Chase Road in Cornelia but a boil water advisory for those same customers remains in effect.
Service was disrupted yesterday after a 10-inch water main ruptured. Cornelia Utilities Director Keith Ethridge says the broken water line has been repaired. He says water samples are being sent to the lab today to check for possible contamination.
The ruptured line disrupted water service to homes along Chase Road and affected several subdivisions including Lakeview Heights, Fox Hollow, Red Fox Hollow, and Arbor Gate. Some homeowners were left with no water while others experienced extremely low water pressure.
The EPD says severe drops in pressure can result in water of “unknown quality” entering the water distribution system.
As a precaution, water customers whose water was cut-off or slowed by Tuesday’s break are advised to boil water before drinking, cooking or preparing baby food with it. Water should be boiled for at least a minute after it comes to a rolling boil before being consumed. “We’re hoping to be able to lift the boil water advisory sometime around 11 a.m. tomorrow,” Etheridge says.
The line that ruptured is located in a remote area off of Chase Road in Cornelia. Ethridge says several factors appear to have contributed to Tuesday’s water main break. He says the age of the line combined with Tuesday’s cold temperatures and tree roots pushing on the line may have weakened it. “There was a lot of rock underneath the tree that acted as a fulcrum and the wind blowing that tree around may have caused it to rupture,” Ethridge says.
Utility crews worked throughout the afternoon to repair it. Ethridge says water service was restored by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Crews have been working to upgrade Cornelia’s water system for some time. Ethridge says that work continues and, hopefully, will help prevent a similar line break in the future. “We’ve got a lot of old infrastructure and this line is one of the oldest in the city. So what we’re doing in town is providing redundancy so that sometime in the future we can either take that line out of service or replace it.”
For updated information on the Chase Road boil water advisory you can contact Cornelia City Hall at (706) 778-4314 or visit the Cornelia Main Street Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/corneliamainstreet
