MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A boil water advisory is still in effect for the city of Milledgeville. The city’s mayor says a major water main break is fixed.

Now crews need to sample the water to make sure it’s safe to drink.

As the buckets, jugs, and coolers are filled, Brion Burrows is stocking up for the unknown.

“They’re giving out water up here. So I said I might as well go up there and get me some water,” Burrows said. “I think we had a couple before, a couple years back, but you never get used to them.”

He and dozens of others waited as emergency personnel used a 5500 gallon tanker from the state’s emergency management agency to distribute clean water.

Mayor Gary Thrower says the water main break is fixed. Now the city is waiting on the Environmental Protection Division for sampling and testing to see if the water is safe to drink.

“Virtually fill the system, re-pressurize, do some flushing, and then they’ve got criteria in which they want us to initiate the sampling,” Thrower said. “Well it’s certainly an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in.”

The issue affects businesses throughout the city. Several restaurants are closed in downtown Milledgeville because of the boil water advisory.

Mayor Thrower says the sampling process could take time. Milledgeville leaders approved money from the city’s general fund for the fix.

“It’s a 24-hour process between the time we take the samples and the time the samples can be read,” Thrower said.

Crews sourced the break to an old pipe.

“The bright side is that it wasn’t any negligence or anything done that caused this event. It was simply an old pipe that created the issue,” Thrower said.

An issue Burrows has all planned out and will wait and see for the next update to drop.

“At home I have a water cooler. So I just take it and flip it over the top,” Burrows said.

Residents can still pick up water in the parking lot across from the Oconee Regional Medical Center. You have to have containers to get the water.

Several schools are also closed on April 12th: Baldwin County Schools, Georgia College & State University and Miller Plaza Learning Center.

Georgia Military Prep and College will be open on April 12th.