SANDY SPRINGS, GA — Sandy Springs leaders are considering taking control of the city’s water infrastructure, citing concerns about the aging system currently operated by the City of Atlanta.

Since before Sandy Springs incorporated in 2005, the city has received water through Atlanta’s water system. Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said the growing city needs more capacity, flow and pressure than the current system is providing.

“Are they providing the service that modern expectations demand, and we don’t believe so,” Paul said.

Paul pointed to issues with aging infrastructure and said city leaders have identified capacity problems throughout Sandy Springs.

“Much more serious capacity problems in parts of Sandy Springs than we’ve first realized,” Paul said.

According to Paul, some businesses have already experienced problems with water pressure.

“We have areas where particularly we’re having to market where we have hotels; at certain times of the day there’s not enough pressure for them to flush toilets above the third floor,” Paul said.

Paul said the city wants to purchase the equipment, make necessary upgrades and operate the system independently.

“We will buy it, we will then do the upgrades necessary to make sure that we have a reliable system that provides the water pressures and the water flows that are needed in Sandy Springs,” Paul said.

He added that Atlanta’s system does not have the capacity to make the upgrades Sandy Springs believes are necessary.

“They don’t have the capacity to come in and do the multiple million dollars of upgrades necessary to bring this system up,” Paul said.

Paul said city leaders estimate that one-third of their drinking water is lost due to leaks in the system.

“We believe that the city of Sandy Springs is the only entity that has the capability and the incentive to come in and upgrade the system to where it needs to be,” Paul said.

Representatives from Sandy Springs and Atlanta are scheduled to begin mediation talks next month, with mediation expected to start in late July.

The discussions come as the two cities continue a long-running legal dispute over water surcharges. In January, a judge ruled in favor of Atlanta regarding its 21% surcharge. Sandy Springs has appealed that decision.

Last year, Atlanta launched a $2 billion upgrade to its water utilities system following a series of significant water main breaks. The project is expected to take 20 years to complete.

WSB Radio’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story.