Water main break near Decatur repaired

DeKalb County crews have completed repairs on a water main break in unincorporated Decatur.

The six-inch-wide pipe broke Monday on Nichols Lane near McAfee Road.

The break was caused by an uprooted tree, according to a county news release. Water service has been restored to the area, but nearby residents may experience brown water and are advised to turn on indoor and outdoor faucets to clean plumbing.

The disruption in DeKalb comes as neighboring Atlanta continues to repair a major break in Midtown. Over the weekend, the city repaired a separate major break near the intersection of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard near JP Brawley Drive. Parts of Atlanta remain under a boil water advisory.

Both localities suffer from aging infrastructure. DeKalb faces an average of three water main breaks per day, Maria Houser told commissioners last month. Houser is overseeing DeKalb's compliance with a federal consent decree that requires improvements to the county's sewer system.

DeKalb's pipes break more than twice as often as those at other Southeast water utilities, she said. Most of the ruptures involve six-inch pipes installed between 1940 and 1970.

Houser told commissioners that replacing the county's aging pipes would cost about $4.4 billion. At $75 million per year, we would have to wait until 2050 to complete it.