New Pipes Could Clear Water Woes along Juniper

Residents along Juniper Street in Midtown could soon see clearer. 

Clearer water, that is.

For years, residents of luxury condo buildings including 905 Juniper have complained of brown, murky water flowing from their faucets.

"It's been a problem ever since I've lived there," said Allen Snow, a resident of 905 Juniper since 2006. Snow described the water coming from his tap as looking like "iced tea."

"Our sheets and towels get stained when we wash them," he said, and the water is not drinkable. 

Snow and other fed-up residents talked to Channel 2's Tom Regan at the beginning of June about their water woes and the lack of response from the city of Atlanta.

"It’s the city’s problem and they need to fix it,” Snow told Regan on the air. 

Now, less than two months after Channel 2's newscast, the city has sent crews to install new water lines along Juniper Street, from 6th to 10th streets.

"I'm very pleased," Snow said. "It's great."

Patch caught up with the project's foreman, Dennis Day, at the construction site late last week.

Day said that the current 6-inch water lines along Juniper are old and "stuff has built up inside" the lines over the years, which is restricting the flow of water. That's why residents on the east side of Juniper have experienced discolored water and low water pressure, he said. 

There's "definitely a need to replace this pipe," said Day, who works for Rockdale Pipeline, a company contracted by the city of Atlanta to complete the work.

The 6-inch water line will be replaced with a 12-inch water line, he said, which will dramatically increase water pressure. About 1,800 feet of piping will be installed, Day said. 

It will take four to six weeks to install the pipes. Day and his workers already have spent about two weeks on the project. They first had to locate utilities before proceeding with construction.

"We don't have a set of drawings on this thing yet," Day said last Thursday. He hoped to start installing the pipes this week. 

During construction, two lanes of Juniper Street will be closed to traffic. Crews will begin installing the pipes at 6th Street and will move north to 10th Street, Day said. 

"We will try to get out of here as soon as possible," he said. 

Day said some residents around Juniper Street have welcomed the construction.

"We've had several people stop to tell us how glad they are to see us here."

Do you live along Juniper Street? Have you experienced water issues? Are you glad to see the water lines are being replaced?