UPDATE 10:30 P.M. - Schools will be open: The DeKalb County School District sent out a tweet Sunday night stating that all schools will be open on Monday on a normal operating schedule. The seven impacted schools, based on Dunwoody's still being under the boil water advisory, have received bottled water and the district will take precautions to ensure student/staff safety.
UPDATE 9:30 P.M. - Boil advisory lifted for most of county: DeKalb County's boil water advisory has been lifted for all areas of DeKalb, except for the city of Dunwoody, officials announced Sunday night.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Schools in DeKalb County are preparing in case a boil water advisory issued for the entire county remains in effect through Monday.
The DeKalb County Department of Watershed said it has finished collecting water samples to determine whether the county’s water supply is safe to consume without boiling.
“After the Georgia Environmental Protection Division completes its analysis of the results later this evening, it will either approve the lift of the advisory or require additional samples,” the department said in a statement.
The advisory was issued after thunderstorms Friday evening led to power outages at a water treatment plant.
The Scott Candler Water Treatment Plant in north DeKalb lost power about 10:40 p.m. and again shortly after 2:30 a.m., county officials said Saturday morning.
“As a result, water pressure in parts of the water system dropped to dangerously low levels,” the county said in a news release. “When this occurs, a potential health hazard may exist in these areas of zero pressure from backflow and/or back-siphonage of water of unknown quality into the water distribution system.”
The advisory was issued out of “an abundance of caution,” and county officials are urging all customers to boil water for at least one minute before drinking, cooking or preparing baby food.
Authorities said it’s safe to shower and wash clothes, but to avoid swallowing the water. City of Atlanta water customers living in DeKalb are not affected.
Customers should continue boiling their water until they receive notice that the water system has been restored and the water is safe to drink.
In a statement, the DeKalb school district said it has delivered more than 60,000 water bottles to schools “that have the greater potential to remain under the boil water advisory on Monday.”
Officials said if the advisory is still in effect for the whole county Monday, the school district will close all schools on Monday.
“DeKalb County School District is in close communication with DeKalb County Watershed on the status of the water boil advisory,” the district said. “Once Watershed provides DeKalb County School District with an update this evening, the District will then make a decision by 9:00 p.m. on any potential school closings for Monday, September 16th.”
—Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this article.
