Atlanta artists are fixing broken water meter covers to make sidewalks safer

A grassroots organization of artists is taking matters into its own hands when it comes to Atlanta's sidewalks by making covers for broken and missing water meter lids.

"We're more of a grassroots organization full of artists and people concerned with the status of the city's sidewalks. Our main goal is to make the city more walkable," said a member of Fix-ATL, who did not wish to share their identity.

Fix-ATL says it has fixed more than 40 water meter covers throughout the city of Atlanta.

The group decorates the covers and posts videos to social media.

"The goal is to garner attention to a wider systemic problem," a group member said. "This is the beginning of an effort to pressure them to do their job correctly."

The group recently fixed a water meter in front of The Lucky Exchange, the vintage clothing store where Andy Fritz works.

"It was within a week of reaching out to Fix-ATL that someone had come and put in a really beautiful, handcrafted, hand-painted piece that not only makes the neighborhood safer, but it's also a really cool feeling to know that there are people who care and are willing to put in the work to make the area awesome," Fritz said. "The more you value your neighborhood, the more value your neighborhood is going to be able to bring you."

The group reports the locations where it places the covers to the Department of Watershed Management so the wooden covers can be replaced with proper lids. Group members told CBS News Atlanta that ATL311 will sometimes report a lid as repaired even though it still has a Fix-ATL wooden cover or an Atlanta Watershed cover that doesn't fit properly.

"When a lid doesn't fit correctly, it can fall through, or it can lead to another issue called point loading. If it doesn't sit along the rim, as you see here, it means that when downward force is applied, the pressure is distributed on one side. When that happens repeatedly, it weakens the lid and eventually leads to breakage," a member of Fix-ATL said.

CBS News Atlanta reached out to the city with questions about water meter lids and Fix-ATL's efforts but did not receive a direct response. The city did provide the following statement:

The Department of Watershed Management's Office of Customer Care and Billing Services (OCCBS) is responsible for maintaining and repairing water meter lids and meter boxes and maintains a 24-hour service level agreement for responding to all water meter lid work orders. The department consistently achieves a 99.9% to 100% compliance rate with this service standard. If a repair requires a complete meter box replacement, the area is first secured for public safety before permanent repairs are scheduled. 

DWM is not aware of any widespread or unresolved issues involving missing or damaged water meter lids or sanitary sewer manhole covers. Reports of missing or damaged manhole covers are promptly investigated, and between January 1 and July 18, 2026, DWM received 312 reports of missing manhole covers, all of which have been resolved and closed. Some reports were duplicates for the same location. 

 It's important to note that DWM maintains water meter lids and sanitary sewer manhole covers, while storm drain inlet covers/catch basins and other infrastructure may be maintained by different agencies, depending on the asset and its location.