Main break patched after residents report water outages

City crews in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, patched a water main break late Wednesday evening after residents in the Savannah Springs Apartments and surrounding neighborhood reported water outages.

“I didn’t know at first why it wasn’t working,” area resident Linda Newell said by phone on Thursday. “Then I heard it was a problem with the city water and that we were all going to be out until they got it fixed. We didn’t know how long it would be out.”

Fort Oglethorpe City Manager Molly Huhn said water was out in the area for about two and a half hours while city staff worked to make repairs.

“Water main breaks happen from time to time. We know to expect those and try to be proactive about fixing them,” she said by phone on Thursday. “Our staff planned to fix the break at around 10 p.m. last night to fix the disruptions. They do that at night to help residents in the area so that people are less inconvenienced by crews or by the water being off.”

Huhn said the city reached out to local restaurants and businesses that are open during those late evening hours so that they knew to expect the water would be off. Building managers for local apartment complexes would also have been alerted to the break, she said.

Public Utility Director Courtney Johnson and Water and Sewer Director Mike Housley said the break has now been fully repaired.

“Things are back up and running this morning as normal,” Housley said by phone Thursday.

Newell confirmed that things were running smoothly at her house again on Thursday morning.

“I was able to take my shower and get out the door on time,” she said.