Officials in Barre City have lifted a citywide boil water notice that followed two water main breaks days earlier.
About 200 households went without water after a break on Circle Street on Tuesday afternoon. Another break that day on Summer Street cut off water for an additional 85 residents.
Water started flowing again early in the morning on Wednesday, according to Bill Ahearn, director of Barre City’s Department of Public Works. From then until Thursday afternoon, users of the entire system, which serves around 14,000 people in Barre City and Barre Town, were advised to boil their water before using it for most purposes.
Officials often issue boil water notices when pipes break — particularly when they cause parts of the system to lose pressure, which can suck bacteria and other contaminants into the system.
It’s unusual for officials to issue a boil water notice for the entire city, Ahearn said, because officials are often able to isolate specific streets or neighborhoods.
“The honest answer is, I couldn’t find any reasonable criteria to say it was anything less than the whole system,” Ahearn said. “It’s a protective measure. We went systemwide to make sure that no one ends up drinking water that might be contaminated.”
Barre City hasn’t issued a citywide boil water notice in about a year and a half, he said, but four water main breaks in the last year have required localized boil water notices.
This time, Ahearn knew parts of the system had lost pressure because he received a call from a resident who lives at a high elevation within the city. When water returned for that resident, the liquid was black — the result of water being sucked through one of the city’s old black iron pipes, which has corroded over time.
“So we decided, definitely, we’re doing a boil water order,” Ahearn said.
The department is trying to determine what caused the break. The city conducts fire hydrant flushing in the fall, which may have contributed to the problem, said Nicolas Storellicastro, Barre’s city manager.
Two citywide boil water notices in 18 months is “too many,” he said.
“That’s why I’m really glad that we’re going through the fact finding of what happened,” he said. “And if there’s anything we can do to change anything in the way we do business to minimize the risk, even a tiny percentage, that’s going to be obviously something we do.”
