Photo By Annmarie Drugonis
The pipe that inconvenienced many.
SEYMOUR — Residents in Beacon Falls, Oxford, and Seymour were given the all-clear Tuesday (Jan. 3) about no longer having to boil their water following a New Year’s Day water main break in downtown Seymour.
The precautionary boil water advisory issued by Aquarion Water Company on Sunday (Jan. 1) was lifted Tuesday afternoon. Company officials also said water was safe to drink. No bacteria were detected in water samples.
Aquarion advised residents to call 1 – 800-732‑9678 or go to the “Alerts and Outages” section of the company’s website at www.aquarionwater.com/alerts with any questions or concerns.
Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis said she first learned of a water main break around 12:30 p.m. on New Year’s Day. Drugonis said the air temperature since just before Christmas had gone from above normal to freezing to above normal again. Old pipes don’t like that type of variety.
“It’s a cast iron pipe, and we had a week of cold weather, then warm weather; pipes expand and contract,” Drugonis said. “This could have been a stress crack due to the severe drop in temperatures, and Aquarion is looking into that.”
Drugonis also said the age of the pipes could have played a part, too. She wasn’t sure how old they were and Aquarion officials weren’t available for comment on Tuesday.
The break occurred in the area of Day Street and Washington Avenue, across from the Shell/Henny Penny gas station and convenience store. Water could be seen rushing up from underneath Route 67 (also known as New Haven Road), and flooding the roadway.
Route 67 — a heavily traveled road that connects to Route 8 — was shut down in both directions before reopening early Monday (Jan. 2), according to Drugonis.
Drugonis said Aquarion identified a crack in a 16-inch water line that serves residents and businesses in Seymour, Beacon Falls and Oxford. The broken pipe, which was approximately 10 – 15 feet long, was ultimately removed and replaced by a construction crew brought in by Aquarion, Drugonis said. Water was back on Sunday night. Residents were asked to boil their water as a precaution.
It is unclear just how many homes and businesses were without water after the break and subsequent repair work.
Several surrounding sidewalks started to lift as a result of the rushing water, but Drugonis said Tuesday she was unaware if the sidewalks needed repairs. Any damage that occurred to the road or sidewalks will be repaired by Aquarion, Drugonis said.
Drugonis said the state Department of Health recommends that anytime water psi, or pounds per square inch, dips below 25, customers should boil water until the problem is fixed. Drugonis said Seymour’s tanks were well below that level, which is why a water boil advisory was in effect for the entire town, (minus those using well water).
The New Year’s Day water main break is one of three that occurred recently in Seymour.
On Dec. 30, a water line broke on Walnut Street, which is just off of Maple Street. Another break occurred in the vicinity of Kerite and Washington Avenue, not too far from the latest break.
Drugonis said she is planning to meet with Aquarion officials in hopes of preventing future breaks whenever possible.
“I’m going to meet with Aquarion next week to discuss infrastructure issues and why these pipes are breaking, and what they are doing in terms of preventive measures,” Drugonis said.
One of Seymour’s popular eateries, Route 67 Family Diner, located in Klarides Village, was one of many impacted by the New Year’s Day water break. Owner Mike Abe was looking forward to ringing in 2023, and had a packed restaurant on New Year’s Day.
“It was New Year’s Day and it was a Sunday so we were very, very busy,” Abe said. “We did not even have an open table that day.”
However, around 1 p.m., Abe said the restaurant began experiencing very low water pressure and had been alerted of the nearby water break.
“We decided to close early, because we couldn’t use the bathrooms,” Abe said.
Abe said existing customers were allowed to finish their meals before he closed shop for the rest of the day. He didn’t provide an estimate as to how much money was lost, but noted he’s open again.
“Everything is back to normal and we’re open for business,” Abe said.
