UPDATE: GCPS Activates Emergency Plan at Mountain View Following Water Main Break

An early morning water main break could have cancelled classes at Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville, Ga. early Thursday morning, but instead, Gwinnett County Public Schools enacted an emergency backup plan.

According to Gwinnett County spokesperson Heather Sawyer, the break occurred at about 5am. Water to the high school and the nearby Mill Creek Plantation subdivision in Buford was shut off around 8:30am.

“Crews canvassed the area with door hangars,” said Sawyer. “We’re expecting repairs to take 10 to 12 hours. Water should be back on by 10pm.”

When school personnel arrived at Mountain View for the day and realized there was no water, GCPS spokesperson Jorge Quintana says they quickly implemented the so-called “Procedure for Water Interruption.”

“We had at the school today two Water Buffaloes. Each holds 500 gallons of water,” said Quintana. “Water from there was used to pump water to the air conditioning system and replenish water to the restrooms.”

The transportable Water Buffalo tanks were filled to capacity with water from fire hydrants. 

Another 30 water stations with water coolers were set up near existing water fountains if students needed a quick drink.

The school also brought in 20 maintenance workers to support the campus during the water outage.

Lunchtime was barely affected as well due to school nutrition department’s own emergency backup plan. 

“They adjusted the menu accordingly and were able to serve lunch to the students today,” said Quintana. 

“While the school didn’t have working water, it was a normal day,” said Quintana. “We did this so students didn’t miss a day of instruction.” 

The water outage should not affect after-school sports practice and other activities according to Quintana.

While water is expected to return to Mountain View and nearby streets late Thursday evening, Quintana says they will enact the emergency backup plan again on Friday.

Drivers should also beware of road closures while crews work to repair the water main. Sunny Hill Road from Lena Carter Road and SR 324/Gravel Springs Road will be shut down. Gwinnett County asks drivers to use Sunny Hill Road to SR 324/Gravel Springs Road to SR 124/Braselton Highway to Old Peachtree Road to Sunny Hill Road and the reverse as a detour.