BRIDGEWATER – Town Manager Michael Dutton and Public Works Director Azu Etoniru would like to share the following update regarding the water supply emergency in the Town of Bridgewater.
As of Monday, June 24, the Town has partially lifted the emergency ban on outdoor water use. This morning, the water levels for the main town water tanks, located on Sprague Hill and Great Hill, were found to be at 70 feet and 55 feet, respectively.
The water levels in the tanks were able to recover due to residents adhering to the water restrictions put in place last week and the additional water provided by an auxiliary well that was activated by town officials to temporarily supplement
the water flowing into the water towers. The well had been taken offline for scheduled maintenance and was turned on ahead of the maintenance to help address the temporary water shortage issue.
“We truly appreciate those residents who followed the restrictions to help our wells recover to appropriate levels,” Town Manager Dutton said. “We are now in a much better place than we were last week but we are reminding residents to follow all town ordinances about outdoor water use so we are not put in this position again.”
On Thursday, June 20, Town officials announced that a full outdoor water ban was being put into place due to a water supply emergency. The water tower levels had reached dangerously low levels, which sparked public safety concerns for the Fire Department about the overall water supply and water pressure at hydrants.
The towers were down to 30 and 25 feet, respectively, and the water levels had dropped about 50% in the span of a week. This rapid drop in supply was determined to be largely due to prohibited residential water use, including the use of outdoor residential sprinkler systems and the filling of residential pools.
Although the ban has been lifted, Town officials remind residents that the only approved use of outdoor water in Bridgewater is the use of handheld hoses.
As a further reminder, the following ordinances still apply:
- Do not use outdoor sprinkler systems
- Do not fill or refill your pool with Town water
The Town of Bridgewater will continue to actively enforce water use rules through ride-arounds to monitor sprinkler use and real-time monitoring of water usage. Residents found violating Town water restrictions will be subject to substantial fines for each day of prohibited use.
Water use restriction laws for the Town of Bridgewater can be read here.
If anyone has any questions, they are asked to call the Bridgewater Water Department at 508-697-0910.
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