Numerous Baldwin residents have been out of clean, running water since Thursday, June 26, which has left many civilians wondering when their tap will run again. According to the city’s Facebook page, water main lines on the Baldwin Mountain system have been restored, but the pressure in the system has yet to recover.
Baldwin Mayor Stephanie Almagno said that the city’s public works department has been working since the day of the break to repair the water lines. She said the people most affected by the outage are Banks County residents with a water source at a higher elevation. Those living near a blow-off valve are also impacted by the line failures.
“It’s a problem of old lines that are far into the ground,” she said. “Everybody knows that when water runs downhill, it picks up speed, it increases pressure, and the old lines blow.”
Customer backlash
Customers, angered by the days-long outage, took to social media to complain. Some were met with harsh criticism from Councilmember Alice Venter who, in one post commented, “I am SICK and TIRED of the shit that gets thrown at the city and the people that serve it. 8 years of sacrifice for NOTHING but ignorance. Dont worry, I’ll be gone in 6 months. But until then, I’M NOT YOUR PUNCHING BAG. And neither are the people that work there. PERIOD.”
Still, even the threat of getting caught in Venter’s crosshairs did not quell the public frustration and anger expressed by those left without water.
Sheryl Scott wrote, “…I just got home from a long night shift, jumped in the damn shower AND WATER JUST STOPS COMING OUT! WTF City of Baldwin?”
Another Baldwin water customer, Tammy Crosby, wrote, “There is not even a gurgle, sputter, a drip. The ones on display at Lowe’s might provide as much water as I am getting.”
Crosby questioned Venter and others who said the pressure had to build back up in the system. “How many days does thst [sic] take? Leak was repaired on Friday night?”
Many left dry for days reported their service was restored on Monday. Still, the online backlash continued, with some requesting credits for the time they were without service.
Solution in site but still 2 to 3 months away
Almagno said that the solution to the line breaks is a cased lined running under Highway 441. She said that the city recently got approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation to dig under the road to build the new line.
The new line project will require two to three months to be completed, said Baldwin Chief Administrative Officer Emily Woodmaster. The city is in talks with the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority to obtain funding for the project.
“The line will tremendously help the mountain folks, but it doesn’t help them today,” Almagno said.
Finding water
The mayor said she reached out to Habersham County Manager Tim Sims to allow those without power to use the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center shower facilities over the weekend.
“The center had just had their carpets cleaned, and they wanted to keep it closed for the whole weekend, but [Sims] was able to open a side door on Sunday morning for those who needed showers,” she said.Â
The main entrance to aquatic center is now to the public, said Almagno.
The Baldwin Fire Department has opened their supply to allow residents to take potable and non-potable water. Interim Fire Chief Ross Jackson asked that community members utilize the source.
“Try not to park in front of the [truck] bay when you’re filling up, but let us know if you have tanks, buckets, or gallon jugs to fill your water with,” Jackson said.
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