MAYNARD — The Town of Maynard has temporarily banned outdoor water use and is asking residents and businesses to conserve water as the Department of Public Works responds to a major water main break that caused the Town’s water storage tanks to lose approximately 33 percent of their stored water.
The break occurred at the privately owned Summer Hill Glenn complex on Thomas Street. The break was detected through the Town’s automated and human monitoring systems after an alert indicated that water levels in the Town’s storage tanks were dropping.
DPW workers immediately began investigating and determined that the system was losing water. Workers surveyed the Town and ultimately located a major break on the Thomas Street property.
Workers shut off valves to isolate and stop the leak, but approximately 1.5 million gallons of water were lost from the system before the break was isolated. The area where the break occurred had been inspected approximately two weeks earlier, at which time no leaks were detected.
As a result of the significant drop in water storage levels, the Town declared a State of Water Emergency for the next five days and implemented a temporary ban on outdoor water use.
During the emergency, community members may not use town water outdoors, and must reduce their use of nonessential potable water. Essential uses include cooking, consumption, and limited bathing and laundry.
If community members comply with the ban and conserve, the Town estimates the water supply will return to normal within days, but without sufficient compliance, restoring the Town’s water supply could take longer.
Some residents may experience low water pressure or discolored water as the system recovers. Town water remains safe to drink.
“The Town’s ability to produce and restore this amount of water is limited, and recovery could take weeks if we do not significantly reduce our water use,” said DPW Director Justin DeMarco. “We are asking all customers to work together as a community and conserve water while we restore the system to normal levels.”
Updates on the situation will be posted on the Town of Maynard’s website.
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