Burst pipe that crippled city's water system didn't make cut for repairs using pandemic money

Oct. 30—WATERTOWN — The city apparently missed a chance two years ago to fix that water main on Huntington Street that caused so many headaches for residents earlier this month.

In 2021, the City Council left that water main off a list of 15 water department projects financed with American Rescue Plan Act funding.

On the night of Oct. 18, that pipe burst, causing a city emergency that left residents without water and under a boil-water advisory for days.

The massive water main break also caused the city's two reservoirs in Thompson Park to become empty.

The water main break occurred on a 16-inch pipe along Huntington Street that's connected to a 24-inch line that leads directly to the two reservoirs in the park.

Two years ago, the city had $22 million in ARPA funding and $40 million in water main projects that needed replacement.

At the time, council members had decisions to make, but that water main in front of the city's water treatment plant didn't make the list of projects.

Council members could have replaced that pipe. They were asked to choose from 45 potential water main projects that would use ARPA money.

During an Aug. 9, 2021, work session, city staff and council members didn't mention that water main during an hourlong discussion of which projects should be funded.

It was estimated the Huntington Street water main would cost $3 million to replace 7,448 feet of the 16-inch steel pipe from Pearl Street to Eastern Boulevard, according to the report provided by city staff in 2021.

Installed in 1939, the report indicated there had been seven breaks on that line since 1994. Three more occurred during the past year.

"The pipe has been in service beyond its life expectancy," according to the report.

But City Manager Kenneth A. Mix said it would be Monday morning quarterbacking to lay blame for not picking that project.

"You can't blame council," he said. "You can't blame staff."

Instead, council members decided to complete the 15 water mains — "Priority One Projects" — that would cost $6.67 million. They were prone to breaks, Mix said.

The Huntington Street water main was identified as a "Priority Two" project.

At that time, the council was made up of Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith, current council members Sarah V. Compo Pierce and Lisa A. Ruggiero and former councilmen Leonard G. Spaziani and Ryan Henry Wilkinson.

Suggested by Spaziani and Ruggiero, the council agreed to focus on improving lines that had low water pressure for fighting fires.

The 15 water lines funded are: Sections of Barben/Holcomb/Bugbee streets; Division Street; East Street Main; Henry/Grant streets; Ohio Street; Pratt Street; Sherman Street; Thompson Street; Winslow Street; Burlington Street; and Tilden Street.

At that 2021 meeting, council members also set aside $500,000 in ARPA funds to find a large leak in the bigger, 5-million gallon water reservoir at Thompson Park.

Although the water main break delayed that project, Mix hopes that the city will soon bring in a national company with expertise to finally find the source of the leak.

But did council miss an opportunity to replace the Huntington Street water main?

"It's easy to say that now in hind sight," Ruggiero said, adding she was relying on staff's recommendations.

Compo Pierce doesn't recall the criteria that staff used to prioritize projects, although she remembers that Mix told them that they could not complete all the water mains with the $22 million available in ARPA money.

Spaziani believes that council members made the right decision to make sure water lines had enough pressure to fight fires.

Smith and Compo Pierce acknowledged that council members could have earmarked ARPA funding to get that project finished.

They also insisted that if they had their way, more ARPA money would have been devoted to infrastructure projects.

Council members will meet Wednesday for a special work session to discuss that massive water main break on Huntington Street.

Ruggiero said she called the meeting to see what happened and seek information about what was done to fix it.

"I don't want this to be accusatory," she said.

City staff met last week for "an after action" meeting to talk about the break.

"No big revelations" came out of that staff meeting, Mix said, adding that staff looked at some ways it could have been handled differently.

Calling Wednesday's special work session "political theater," Smith said that staff should have been given more time to obtain more information about the situation.

Ruggiero believes that the city needs to provide information to the public about it.

The work session is at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the third-floor council chambers at City Hall, 245 Washington St.