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MassDEP Declares Water Supply Emergency in Bridgewater

State regulators ordered conservation to protect supplies during the town's push for a temporary Middleborough link.

Overview

  • Bridgewater extended a total ban on outdoor watering and urged shorter showers, full laundry and dishwasher loads, and prompt leak repairs.
  • Officials are preparing a temporary interconnection with Middleborough, and the water superintendent warned select neighborhoods could see brief discoloration as flow directions change.
  • Residents have reported brown water for weeks and, at a recent town meeting, heard leaders acknowledge a decade of neglect with repairs expected to take about two years.
  • Questions from residents persist over when the interconnection will go live, whether Middleborough must formally approve it, and why billing continues under restrictions.
  • Bridgewater State University says campus conditions are being monitored and points students and staff to town guidance and a PFAS‑free water kiosk, following an October notice of excessive manganese and PFAS6 in town water.