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Waterbury Schools Closed as City Drains 30-Inch Main to Fix Valve Break

The Watertown plant that supplies both communities is offline as workers empty millions of gallons to reach a failed air relief valve.

Overview

  • Crews worked through the night to drain roughly 10 miles of pipeline, an estimated 3.5 to 4 million gallons, with repairs expected to take one to two hours once the line is empty.
  • Officials shut the Watertown treatment plant because aging valves could not isolate the break on the Huntingdon Avenue transmission main, according to the mayor.
  • Only a small number of customers currently lack water, but higher elevations have already seen losses and outages may expand during the day, prompting Wednesday's school closure.
  • Watertown-Oakville implemented measures to bolster storage for fire protection as the shared supply remains temporarily out of service.
  • Work was briefly paused by an overnight thunderstorm, and the Bureau of Water has opened an investigation into the cause of the break.