Gloucester public works crews made quick work stemming the flow and repairing a major water main break on Maplewood Avenue, not far from the intersection with Poplar Street near the Babson Reservoir and the Babson Water Treatment Facility Monday night.
DPW Director Mike Hale said a video he was sent around the time of the break showed water gushing out of the street with police blocking off the area to traffic just before the underpass of Route 128. Traffic had been detoured away from the area during the water work.
By 7:56 p.m., he said, crews had pretty much stopped the water from flowing. Within six hours overnight, he said, crews were able to repair the break. Some further cleanup of the street was required on Tuesday. He said despite the large hole that was opened in the roadway by the force of the water, the roadway was reopened overnight.
The DPW put out a statement that said if residents were experiencing brown water, they should run the cold water tap for 10 minutes to flush out the lines.
If problems persist, the DPW says to call 978-325-5600 so the department can send a crew out to do some spot flushing.
Hale said the 16-inch water main did not fail, but hardware holding a fitting in place “at the old line stop” from maintenance done several decades ago did. However, the prior work to install a valve allowed crews to isolate where the water was shut off to the immediate area. Hale said the entire city felt the drop in pressure, but crews were able to shut valves and isolate the interruption in water service.