MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Five water main breaks within the last three days have caused Milledgeville city officials to issue a boil advisory to water customers and urge residents to conserve water as much as possible.

The problem appeared to be worst for residents and businesses in the western end of the city, including Oconee Regional Medical Center.

Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency Director Troy Reynolds had a water tanker truck taken to the local hospital on Wednesday afternoon so residents could go get water in plastic jugs in the event the need arises.

City officials met Wednesday afternoon at city hall to discuss a strategy for to how to get the water pipes breaks repaired and discuss what could be causing so many water pipe breaks so closely together.

“We’ve had five water main breaks in the last three days,” said Kevin Veal, city water superintendent. “Right now, we don’t know what is causing so many of these breaks all at one time.”

Veal’s comments came during a Wednesday afternoon meeting at city hall that included Mayor Gary L. Thrower, City Manager Barry Jarrett, Robert Hadden, among others.

“We have no idea why they (water main breaks) continue to happen,” Jarrett said. “But we’ve had enough of them to break that it puts us in a dangerous situation in that we’re starting to run low on water now.”

The city manager said residents and businesses on the western end of the city already had begun to experience low water pressure.

“And when the pressure drops below a certain point, you have to go to a boil water advisory,” Jarrett said. “We are there.”

City officials immediately issued the boil water advisory through various media outlets. It marked the second time this year city officials have had to resort to doing so.

When water pressure drops to a dangerously low level, a potential health hazard could exist in the effective areas as a result of backflow and possible back siphonage of the unknown quality of water into the water distribution center, according to Felicia Cummings, a city spokeswoman.

Jarrett said city officials received a telephone call from someone on the fourth floor of the Baldwin County Courthouse on Wednesday who said there were water pressure problems. Someone at the hospital called to report the same problem, he added.

“In order to protect the public from a potential health hazard, all city of Milledgeville water department customers, especially those residing on the west side of Milledgeville that have experienced water outages and or low water pressure are advised to boil all water prior to use for drinking, cooking, or preparing food,” Cummings said.

The water should be boiled for at least one minute after it reaches the boiling stage.

The water boil advisory will remain in effect until city officials announce that it has been lifted.

The mayor described the latest water situation as “a crisis.”

Thrower wanted to know how many active water pipe breaks there were as of Wednesday afternoon. Veal told him the city had experienced a total of five water breaks in the last three days.

“That’s not counting normal day-to-day operations,” Veal said. “These are really big breaks, like roads washing away, and thousands of dollars in just roadwork, literally. I don’t know where we stand on that.”

Veal said city waterworks crews had been working around the clock the last three days to make repairs on the water pipes.

Additional workers may be called in to help with repairs.

“That’s what we’re looking at right now,” Jarrett said. “At this point, we’re more worried about giving out of water than repairing the water lines.”

City officials said they also have also reached out to officials with Baldwin County and that they were willing to assist.

“The county is on standby at this time,” Hadden said.

The three broken water pipes that still were in need of repair as of Wednesday afternoon are located at Walden Street at Jefferson Street; Pickens Street between Montgomery and McIntosh streets; and Wayne Street at Washington Street.

The latest water main break happened Wednesday morning at Walden and Jefferson streets, Jarrett said.

“That’s the one that’s causing all of these major problems,” Hadden pointed out.

Veal noted that two of the three water pipe breaks are 10-inch lines, while the third one is believed to be an 8-inch line.