Waterbury officials say water service is being slowly restored as repair crews continue to deal with a water leak resulting from repairs to a water main break.
Mayor Paul Pernerewski said the city will gradually introduce water back into the pipes to avoid damaging the aging pipe network.
“That's why we're trying to be very cautious,” Pernerewski said. We want to make sure that we don't cause any unintended consequences.”
The mayor has given regular updates on the repair work, days after a massive water main break shut down water access to the city, and led to a boiling advisory. Pernerewski and Rep. Jahana Hayes, whose congressional district includes Waterbury, both said they would look into federal assistance to improve the municipal water pipe network. But while residents continue to lack water service, Pernerewski said demand for bottled water has slowed.
Waterbury schools will remain closed for the third consecutive day Wednesday due to the lack of water supply. Pernerewski said residents can still get bottled water Tuesday at the Municipal Stadium and at Crosby High School, but that will soon change, starting Wednesday.
“Starting tomorrow, the water distribution will just be at the stadium,” Pernerewski said.
Pernerewski is advising residents who have water, to open their bathtub faucets to release trapped air and once the water flows, to shut it off.
Bradley Malay, superintendent of the city's water department, said starting today water service will begin being restored to the city in stages, beginning with sections currently experiencing low water pressure, including St. Mary’s Hospital.
Malay is advising residents to continue to boil their water until the advisory has been lifted.
“Hopefully, best case scenario, we are taking samples tomorrow morning, having them to the lab early tomorrow afternoon, which would allow us to get results 24 hours after that,” Malay said.
The water main break occurred months after a boiling advisory was sent out. The city’s aging water pipes have been an issue for years. The city identified several deficiencies in the system, including brittle water valves earlier this year.
Pernerewski said the city will speed up improvements and check for additional issues as a result of the water main break. The city has already undertaken a $30 million improvement project on the pipe network with state help.
Replacing the valves, Malay said, would prevent future incidents from disrupting water service.
“It would allow us to continue to feed the city through either the first transmission main or the second transmission main without interruption,” Malay said.
Pernerewski said the total cost of the water main break, from overtime to water deliveries, which cost $100,000, could end up costing over $800,000. He said there might be federal money available to help cover the costs.
“I spoke with Congresswoman Hayes this morning to start looking as to whether there may be some federal dollars available as well,” Pernerewski said. “So we will take a look at what's out there.”
Rep. Jahana Hayes confirmed she spoke to Pernerewski and said the Water Resources Act, a federal program legislation which authorizes but does not in itself fund improvement projects, could help the city.
“I'm trying to get all of the parameters for that so that we can make sure that Waterbury is poised to be able to submit for some federal assistance to help cover some of the cost of replacing this water main that is 100 years old and keeps giving them problems,” Hayes said.
Hayes lives in Wolcott and has water service. But she said the water main break has impacted her personally, as she commended Pernerewski for his updates and her staffers helped distribute water to residents.
“My daughter called me,” Hayes said. “She had water in her area, in Waterbury, but it was coming out brown, and she needed to come to my house to give the kids a bath.”
