Matt Smith from the Holyoke Water Department talks during a press conference on Aug. 24 to discuss a water main break on Westfield Road and restrictions the Water Department is placing.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
HOLYOKE — Residents may experience water disruption and/or potential water quality issues after a significant water main break on Westfield Road near Homestead.
Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia and Water Department representatives hosted a press conference on Aug. 24 to provide the latest available information, including the anticipated impacts, emergency precautions being taken, water quality concerns and what residents should do to protect themselves and their households.
Joe Manzi from Holyoke Water Works explained that during a scheduled construction job on Aug. 20, the city’s 30-inch transition main was struck with a telephone pole during installation, causing two small punctures. He said the Water Department did not anticipate the punctures improving, and they were immediately treated as an emergency.
The utility company installing the telephone pole contacted the Holyoke Water Department during the Dig Safe process, and the area was marked so the company could know where the important water infrastructure was underneath. The pole, however, was placed on the other side of the marked-off pole. Although the pole was within the tolerance zone, the break still happened.
A manufacturing technician from Texas is scheduled to help with the repair on Tuesday, Aug. 25. In the meantime, the break is expected to cause significant disruption and potential water quality issues affecting a large portion of the city. The pipe is a different material than typical water mains the city has, and the parts are made in Texas.
Holyoke Water Works’ Matt Smith said the city has not yet experienced any water disruption, but the leak progressively got worse over the weekend. Moving forward, especially when they isolate the section of the water main, Smith said a lot of the water throughout the city will have to be rerouted in directions it is not used to going. Because of this, they expect residents to see a fair amount of discoloration.
The Holyoke Water Department is taking emergency precautions to prevent the break from worsening while crews assess the situation and work to address the issue as quickly and safely as possible. They will flush hydrants, test water pressure at various locations, and sample for bacteria and certain designated MassDEP sites for compliance.
Garcia said this is an evolving situation, so some information may change as the crew gets a better understanding of the break. The city will continue providing daily updates to the public as additional information becomes available.
Smith said the pipe is one of the larger transmission mains the city has, which is why emergency precautions are in place.
“Shutting it down is no easy task,” Smith said. “It feeds a large portion of the city and a large volume, so by shutting this down, we do have redundancies and mains to keep the city with water, but we will be testing pressures to make sure that pressures do not drop below what is mandated by the state.”
At the time of the press conference, there was no list of the most affected streets and neighborhoods, but Smith said streets with the highest elevations in the high-service areas and near the break may experience a pressure drop. Smith also stated that he does not think that there should be any water issues for any schools.
The Holyoke Water Department will send out an emergency notification encouraging Holyoke residents to restrict water use. Holyoke is currently under a level two drought restriction. The Water Department, however, is going to increase those restrictions so that there is no watering of lawns, no washing of vehicles, no cleaning of exterior surfaces and no filling up swimming pools.
“Basically, the only water that should be used in the foreseeable future should be for health and safety; sanitizing the things in your house, bathing, cooking, things of that nature,” Smith stated.
Smith said that residents must be observant of the water quality coming from their faucets. If the water quality is different from the day before or hours before, residents should contact the Water Department at 536-0262. The Water Department currently does not know how far the water discoloration will spread, so contacting them can help alleviate the problem.
Smith said the best-case scenario is to have the pipe temporarily patched and have things back online by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. After the 30-inch pipe is back online, there will be another flow water change causing further water disruptions.
Smith added that no one should be without water in the city during the shutdown. After the water main is patched, another temporary shutdown to fix the problem will occur. Residents will receive notification about that project.
Reminder Publishing will continue to provide any updates.
