MWRA Water Main Break Updates

Boston (GaeaTimes.com) The water main break was brought under control at about 6:45 p.m. as a valve was shut down before losing 64 million gallons of water. More than 2 million customers in 700,000 households were affected and they are now being supplied with untreated water from the backup reservoirs to provide water for firefighting and sewage. Gov. Deval Patrick said that the water is not safe for drinking but it is good enough for bathing, flushing or firefighting. He urged the residents in 30 communities to thoroughly boil water before drinking it.

Failure to boil water rapidly for at least one minute could cause serious illness,

Patrick said.

What we’re having to do is use reservoirs with untreated water.

It is reported that the leak was in a relatively new, 10-foot steel water pipe buried 12 feet underground in Weston, a community west of Boston.

It’s a very substantial break in a very large pipe.

said MWRA chief Frederick Laskey.

Allegedly, the main was only six or seven years old. It was not possible to replace that pipe with anything that is available as the pipe was custom made. The main broke at around 10 am on Saturday morning and the cause of the rupture is not yet known.

Communities surrounding Boston were severely affected as the main connects the Quabbin Reservoir to MWRA supplied communities. Those communities switching to local water resources were not affected seriously. People were requested to conserve water and avoid less necessary activities such as car washing and lawn watering.