Emory University’s Atlanta campus has entered its second day under a boil water advisory after a water main break occurred on Clairmont Road in Brookhaven, Ga. on Jan. 14. The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management announced the advisory for campus on the morning of Jan. 15, prompting the University to provide water at the Emory Student Center second floor commons, the Student Activities and Academic Center lobby and the Woodruff Residential Center.
The advisory has also affected the function of some buildings on campus, with Kaldi’s Coffee at the Depot closing its bathroom and limiting the menu to drinks that do not require water. Signs telling students to not use water fountains have also been posted in buildings such as the George W. Woodruff Physical Education Center and Robert W. Woodruff Library.
In an email to the Emory community, the University wrote that the water is safe to bathe and shower in, as long as it is not ingested.
The University first alerted students to the ongoing situation on Jan. 14 in an email just after 9 p.m., stating that they expected that “there will soon be no running water” and a “significant” decrease in water pressure for several hours.
In a Facebook post, DeKalb County Commissioner Robert Patrick wrote that the boil water advisory was issued “out of an abundance of caution” and that some residents may experience brown water as the county works on fixing the break.
The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management wrote in a press release that they expected the break would affect close to 8,800 households and 20,000 residents, adding that a cast-iron pipe installed in 1941 caused the break. Additionally, DeKalb County reported that there was another water main break on North Druid Hills Road. DeKalb CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said that the bursts were a result of the pipes’ age and cold weather.
The county was still working to fix the break as of 9:15 a.m. this morning, according to a post from Patrick.
Water main breaks have been a common occurrence for the Emory community in the past few years, with breaks occurring in October 2022, October 2023, February 2024 and June 2024.
