A water main break left residents of the east side of Brockton, in the area of the intersection of Crescent and Quincy streets, without running water over the weekend. The problem was resolved by Sunday morning.
BROCKTON – Residents on the east side of Brockton were left out to dry, without running water, due to a water main break that had Department of Public Works employees doing overtime on the weekend to accomplish a difficult repair job.
“We just go a day without showers,” said Ward 5 Councilor Jeffrey Thompson, asked how he and others dealt with the loss of water. “We suck it up and do the best we can and hope that DPW can do their job, so we’re not without water for too long.”
Thompson, an Ames Road resident, who is in his first term as Ward 5 City Councilor, was among the Brockton residents without water over the weekend, after a water main break at the corner of Crescent and Quincy streets near the entrance to Massasoit Community College. The intersection was closed off during the repairs, which began on Friday night and extended to Sunday morning, when the city announced that the water was going back on for all residents around 8 a.m.
The water main problems, the result of aging infrastructure, left many neighborhood residents “aggravated” over the weekend, Thompson said. The pipe carrying the water was laid in 1924, he said, and other pipes date back as far as the 1800s.
“Of course people were unhappy about the situation and reasonably so,” Thompson said. “This is the 21st century. We would think we’d have better technology, and higher quality pipes and water delivery systems. Brockton’s behind the curve a little bit when it comes to modernizing our water system.”
The restoration of the water main was made complicated due to malfunctioning gate valves that were unable to close, needed to stop the flow of water to the area of piping so repairs could be accomplished, said Thompson, who was in contact with Mayor Robert Sullivan and the head of the DPW throughout the weekend, relaying information over social media to neighborhood residents.
“The gates they found that were immediately abutting the leak would not close,” Thompson said. “They were either too old and fragile, or completely stuck, seized open.”
Thompson said DPW workers had to move north to turn off a functioning gate valve, eventually finding one on East Ashland Street on Saturday that could stop the flow of water to the area of the water main break at the intersection of Crescent and Quincy streets, which resulted in even more homes losing water temporarily.
During the water main break, the Fire Department received support from other towns sending tanker trucks in case of a fire on the east side, including tankers from fire departments in Raynham, Middleboro and Plymouth.
Thompson credited the DPW employees, and DPW Commissioner Larry Rowley, for their efforts to make the repairs as soon as possible.
“Their knowledge, experience and professionalism was really impressive,” he said. “As an East Sider, I’m thankful.”
This isn’t the first time water main breaks have caused problems for Brockton. Another water main break left homes and businesses on the north side without water last February. Classes at the Downey School were cancelled for day in November 2018 following a water main break. And in 2016, at one point, the city dealt with four water main breaks within the matter of four weeks, including one that caused a geyser like spout spraying water 20 feet into the air near West Elm and Belmont Streets.
The situation is a wake-up call about the city’s aging water infrastructure, Thompson said. Currently, City Council Ordinance Committee is looking into a potential hike in sewer and water rates to fund infrastructure improvements for Brockton’s 303 miles of pipeline.
“All these malfunctioning gates are a symptom of our old infrastructure,” said Thompson, who was elected last fall and has been in office for two months now. “Brockton must address its water infrastructure issues. When campaigning, that was one of my highest priorities. It still is. Hopefully, we can get that situation addressed and develop a plan to modernize our water and sewer infrastructure.”
