Burst century-old water pipes have kept Atlanta under a boil-water advisory since Friday, putting some Georgia residents on edge.

Last week, a series of breaks occurred to two main water pipes: one that was installed in 1910 and the other that was installed in 1930. The pipes burst Friday afternoon, leaving residents in downtown and midtown Atlanta without water over the weekend and into Monday.

“To the people of Atlanta, I do want to apologize that this has frustrated you and frustrated me this weekend,” Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens said on CNN News Central on Monday. “This is not the way the city nor the visitors, residents intended to spend our weekend, having to boil water and deal with low pressure or water outages in certain areas.”

Dickens said the advisory was a “precautionary measure.” 

“Right now, most Atlantans have water; it’s just we want to make sure that they boil it out of a precautionary measure,” Dickens said.

Atlanta Public Schools’s summer school and programs were not in session Monday due to the boil-water advisory. Tourist attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola are shut down due to the state of emergency. Two Megan Thee Stallion concerts scheduled for Friday and Saturday at State Farm Arena were postponed as well.

Dickens has come under fire for his handling of the crisis, mostly because of the pace of the administration’s response to the breaks. When the pipe broke on Friday, Dickens was in Memphis, Tennessee, campaigning for his reelection campaign for 2025 and did not return to Atlanta until Saturday. 

Dickens did not take any questions at a Monday press conference, which also angered some residents. Still, Dickens told CNN he is taking the criticism “head-on.”

“I take it seriously. I take it to heart,” Dickens said of the criticism. “Residents wanted to see more of me Saturday morning before the 2 p.m. press conference. I understand that, and I apologize.”

Now some residents have been left for four days without running water, leaving them frustrated.

“When will the water be back on? Is there any estimated timeline? We live right here!” Atlanta resident Rhett Scircle yelled at Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr. during Monday’s press conference.

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Atlanta’s problems could also mirror a nationwide problem the United States is facing with its decaying infrastructure, as 33% of U.S. and Canadian water mains are over 50 years old, according to a December 2023 study from Utah State University.

“It seems like everything is falling apart,” midtown resident Marie Moore said.