Boil water advisory lifted as Walhalla works to fix aging infrastructure
Update 8/3/2025: The Boil water advisory has been lifted for the city of Walhalla.All Walhalla water customers are under a boil water advisory following a water main break, which is the latest incident as the city works to improve its infrastructure.City Administrator Celia Myers said a 10-inch water main line leaked on private property off West Union Road near Jefferson Road on Thursday. She said the repair lasted longer than expected. “That, timed with a little bit of excess water use with some of the warmer weather, people using some additional water, it got our water tanks a little lower level than we would have liked to have seen,” Myers said.She said the result was lower to no water pressure across the city. Myers said repairs were completed late Thursday and water pressure returned to normal levels at about 3 a.m. Friday.Out of an abundance of caution, city leaders issued a boil water advisory to all water customers for the next 48 hours.Myers said the city provides water to about 6,800 customers in Oconee County, and some are located outside of the city limits.Meanwhile, Mountain Mocha owner Charles Crissey said he has opted to switch to bottled water to make the coffee shop’s drinks instead of the city’s water. “Absolutely breaking our backs doing it, man. Really. It’s the honest to God truth,” he said. “We want them to have the best-tasting coffee that we can possibly make. If we can’t serve them good water — and the water is the number one thing. If you make it with good water, you’re going to have a good coffee.”The incident has reignited discussions between city leaders regarding the state of the city’s water infrastructure.Council Member Grant Keehn continued to raise concerns regarding a $550,000 transfer from the utilities department in this year’s budget. “It’s just going to be like this from now on,” Keehn said. “It can get worse. You can’t ignore the infrastructure, your water system and take money from it.”Walhalla Mayor Tim Hall said the money transferred from the department was used to help pay for city operations, such as public safety.”It’s not unusual for cities to transfer money from a utilities fund to support operations,” Hall said. “A half-million dollars would put down a half mile of water pipe based on the prices that I’ve seen. Taking a half-million dollars from the general fund, where that money is being transferred over, would hurt other operations — police, fire. These don’t make revenue. They have to be subsidized by the city.”The mayor said over the past year, the city has put in about $12 million in grants toward projects to address the city’s aging infrastructure. He said it will likely take tens of millions of additional dollars in grants to help pay for fixing the remainder of the city’s underground pipes.
Update 8/3/2025: The Boil water advisory has been lifted for the city of Walhalla.
All Walhalla water customers are under a boil water advisory following a water main break, which is the latest incident as the city works to improve its infrastructure.
City Administrator Celia Myers said a 10-inch water main line leaked on private property off West Union Road near Jefferson Road on Thursday. She said the repair lasted longer than expected.
“That, timed with a little bit of excess water use with some of the warmer weather, people using some additional water, it got our water tanks a little lower level than we would have liked to have seen,” Myers said.
She said the result was lower to no water pressure across the city. Myers said repairs were completed late Thursday and water pressure returned to normal levels at about 3 a.m. Friday.
Out of an abundance of caution, city leaders issued a boil water advisory to all water customers for the next 48 hours.
Myers said the city provides water to about 6,800 customers in Oconee County, and some are located outside of the city limits.
Meanwhile, Mountain Mocha owner Charles Crissey said he has opted to switch to bottled water to make the coffee shop’s drinks instead of the city’s water.
“Absolutely breaking our backs doing it, man. Really. It’s the honest to God truth,” he said. “We want them to have the best-tasting coffee that we can possibly make. If we can’t serve them good water — and the water is the number one thing. If you make it with good water, you’re going to have a good coffee.”
The incident has reignited discussions between city leaders regarding the state of the city’s water infrastructure.
Council Member Grant Keehn continued to raise concerns regarding a $550,000 transfer from the utilities department in this year’s budget.
“It’s just going to be like this from now on,” Keehn said. “It can get worse. You can’t ignore the infrastructure, your water system and take money from it.”
Walhalla Mayor Tim Hall said the money transferred from the department was used to help pay for city operations, such as public safety.
“It’s not unusual for cities to transfer money from a utilities fund to support operations,” Hall said. “A half-million dollars would put down a half mile of water pipe based on the prices that I’ve seen. Taking a half-million dollars from the general fund, where that money is being transferred over, would hurt other operations — police, fire. These don’t make revenue. They have to be subsidized by the city.”
The mayor said over the past year, the city has put in about $12 million in grants toward projects to address the city’s aging infrastructure.
He said it will likely take tens of millions of additional dollars in grants to help pay for fixing the remainder of the city’s underground pipes.