PITTSFIELD — An order by the town to boil water for domestic use will remain in effect at least until Friday.

The order came Wednesday morning following a water main break, according to the assistant superintendent of Pittsfield Water Works, Scott Noble.

Noble said the break happened when workers started to replace a fire hydrant on Leonard Street, close to downtown. He said a previous break in the six-inch service pipe, which had been fixed at one time, burst and sent about 10,000 gallons of water shooting into the street.

There was no flooding to homes or businesses, Noble said.

The boil water order affects about 100 residential and business customers on Lincoln Street, Detroit Street, Hunnewell Avenue, Leonard Street and Davis Street.

Water must be boiled for at least five minutes before drinking, making ice cubes, washing or cooking foods, brushing teeth or any other activity involving the consumption of water.

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Water can not be used for a minimum of 24 hours following a break in the pipes or until the Maine Drinking Water Program tells the town to lift the order, Noble said.

“The repairs are all done, water has been restored and it’ll be (Thursday) morning before we do any water samples, so Friday morning will be the earliest that we’ll lift that,” he said Wednesday afternoon.

Municipal water for downtown comes from two drilled municipal wells, Noble said. The wells were not compromised during the break.

He said the pipe that broke was installed in 1908 and is part of an aging water delivery system. Some of the older pipes date from the 1890s, he said.

“It’s just old infrastructure, we’ve got to pick at it a little bit at a time,” he said.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com


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