Some businesses on South Colony Road in Meriden recently spent an afternoon without water due to a break that «literally blew out the pavement» and flooded the roadway, said city spokesman Tony Terzi.
«The pipe broke on top, which is why there was such a violent blowout of the roadway above,» Terzi said.
Communities throughout the state are grappling with water main breaks. A valve recently broke in Waterbury shooting water 40 feet into the air and cut off water for a large chunk of the city, and Portland experienced three major breaks downtown in four months.Team Auto Center owner Firas Samander took a video that showed muddy water streaming from the split pipe into the street in Meriden, past vehicles and onto the sidewalk at 111 South Colony St.
«We lost water for half the day,» he said. «We had no water source whatsoever.»Team Auto Center owner Firas Samander took a video that showed muddy water streaming from the split pipe into the street in Meriden, past vehicles and onto the sidewalk at 111 South Colony St.
«We lost water for half the day,» he said. «We had no water source whatsoever.»Crews were able to restore water that night and remove the mud and dirt from the parking lot. Afterward, the water was murky, however Beat the Street’s water fountains filtered out the sediment, Pelletier said.
«Any time there’s a major break, it happens,» he said.
Why it’s happening
Meriden, where the oldest pipes date back to 1892, annually repairs about 25 main breaks and 50 service lines, which are smaller pipes running from the water main into properties, said Robert Peter, Meriden’s superintendent of operations, water and wastewater.
The state has some of the oldest water infrastructure in the country. Most of it is over 50 years old and beyond the useful life, according to a 2022 report from the Connecticut Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.»Aging infrastructure is an issue facing many water systems across the entire country, not just in Connecticut,» said state Department of Public Health spokesperson Brittany Schaefer.Over half of U.S public water systems have identified rehabilitation and replacement of aging infrastructure as their most critical challenge, the ASCE2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure says.
«The issue impacts water systems of all sizes including municipally owned and privately owned water systems,» Schaefer added. «Deteriorating infrastructure can lead to water delivery issues, such as pressure drops and limited flow rates, water quality issues, and rising maintenance and repair costs.»
Municipalities throughout the state are dealing with expensive water main breaks, and beginning — or anticipating — projects to help remedy the situation.As the colder weather and frigid temperatures approach, additional concerns arise.
Most breaches occur in the winter «when freezing soils shift, which can shear weaker pipes,» Peter said.
A similar issue occurred on Huntingdon Avenue in Waterbury Sept. 23, when a break caused supply issues for a couple hours to a large section of the city and prompting a boil water advisory until Oct. 2.
«We maybe lost 2,000 over the course of a couple hours, but most consumers live up in higher elevations in the East End,» Water Department Superintendent Bradley Malay said
Hospitals and others sites with «critical» infrastructure were unaffected, he added. Pumper trucks are placed at these locations and can be hooked up if those buildings run out of water.Some nearby residents lost water again Sept. 29 as crews conducted repairs and the city briefly shut down the water system Oct. 12 to repair the broken main, officials said.
«The impacted section of the main is part of Waterbury’s core water infrastructure, much of which dates back 80 to 130 years,» Waterbury said in a press release Monday. «The age and size of the water main made this repair particularly challenging, as crews had to manage system pressure while ensuring safe working conditions.»
Costly repairs
Meriden’s water division allocates more than $500,000 to clean and line old mains, and those with more frequent leaks, Peter said.
«We depend on annual leak studies to find the areas to concentrate our efforts,» he said.Meriden uses a product that allows the city to create a new pipe within the broken pipe without having to dig, which Peter said is «beneficial cost-wise, improving pipe structure and flows.»
«Though replacement is an option, it is much more disruptive, and costs generally include repaving the roadway,» Peter said.
Waterbury has an emergency budget to pay for incidents such as these. Malay is also able to draw from the capital projects budget for main upkeep and maintenance.
A $12 million project underway on Thomaston Avenue will reline the entire main after multiple breaks, each of which can cost about $200,000, Malay said.»If you have one every year or two, it makes sense to reline it,» he said.
Crews are taking that 42-inch main and «jamming a 38-inch pipe down the middle of it, which is brand new, much higher pressure, and better all the way around,» Malay said. «We’re trying to do what we can to mitigate disasters.»
Bridgeport will work with Aquarion to identify its outdated water lines and replace them, said Dave Reyes Jr. the city’s acting director of emergency management.
Aquarion’s five-year average for water main breaks in Bridgeport is 10.7 per 100 miles. Approximately 1% were installed before 1900, said Aquarion spokesman Peter Fazekas.»These cast iron mains are typically larger in diameter, with walls that are substantially thicker than today’s standards, making them very durable under ideal soil conditions,» he added.
Age is one factor when it comes to replacing them, Fazekas added, however, «break history and water quality play a more significant role in determining our priorities.»
Numerous funding opportunities are available to eligible public water systems to utilize for water main replacements and other aging infrastructure projects within their communities, including the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, Schaefer said.
Portland has a $1 million state Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant to support the main replacement on High Street and must provide 20% in matching funds.A contractor has done some of the work, however the town was unable to meet its goal of getting it done before school started. It is expected to begin again late this month or early next, Portland Public Works Director Jason Morrocco said.
Portland First Selectman Michael Pelton said the Oct. 4 break made the project to replace lines on High and Main streets more urgent. Engineers told him the main is past its useful life.
«Both have been pretty much ruptured, not just cracked, and shattered, which is typical of something like this after so many years,» Pelton said..
It is one of the busiest roadways in town, with the high, middle and Valley View Elementary schools located there. With new businesses coming in, including the Brainerd Place development on Route 66, the project has become all the more important.
Some of the main lines, including High Street’s, have asbestos cement piping, very popular in the late 19th and early 20th century because it’s cheaper and had multiple uses, Pelton said.
«The replacement of these old water lines is vital to our whole downtown because, if one of those pipes goes down, it shuts water off for a significant part of the town,» Pelton said.