Waterbury's latest major water main break will mean no water service for about 5,200 homes and businesses in the Bunker Hill neighborhood, likely until the end of the week, according to Mayor Paul Pernerewski.
The mayor says until a fix is made to the busted 36-inch main, the city is unable to fill the Clough Rd. tank, which serves much of that neighborhood.
Crews are waiting for needed parts, including a specialized fitting that's not kept in inventory.
"The connectors that will allow them to connect (the fitting) to the existing concrete pipe that's there will be here on Thursday," said Pernerewski, at a late Tuesday afternoon press conference. "To the extent they get the pipe put together tomorrow, and as soon as the connectors get here, they will be prepared to start connecting those pipes in, so we expect that by the end of the week-- Friday to Saturday-- we should have the water restored."
The break was reported on Tompkins Street around 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday. The mayor says there is significant flooding inside the nearby Kaynor Technical High School.
The Waterbury Fire Department is preparing backup plans and may seek help from other towns.
Waterbury's chronic problem with water main breaks are well-documented. Multiple breaks in the aging system last winter cut off water for tens of thousands of residents.
"We're working on it," Pernerewski said. "It's a hundred years of piping that's under there that... it just all to seems to be coming together in the last year-and-a-half or so that we're having these problems. I will tell that it's not going to be fixed this year or next year, this is a process that goes on for a little bit, but we're going to start to try to do the things that are most critical."
The city says that once water service is restored, all affected homes and businesses will be placed under a boil water advisory.
