Workers repair Waterville water main break off Kennedy Memorial Drive

WATERVILLE — A water main break at the entrance to Shaw’s Plaza off Kennedy Memorial Drive has been repaired and service restored.

Roger Crouse, general manager of the Kennebec Water District, said the work was completed around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and cleanup continued for the next couple of hours.

“As usual, our crew performed admirably despite the adverse weather conditions,” he said. “We are grateful to the community for their support as well as their patience with this disruption.”

Crouse said an update on the repair was posted on the Water District’s Facebook page.

The break in a 12-inch pipe occurred around noon Tuesday, prompting water service to be shut down in the plaza and west of the plaza on Kennedy Memorial Drive to, and including, J&S Oil and the doctors’ complex.

Crouse said Wednesday morning in an email that the cause of the break remains unknown, as is the case with many such breaks.

“It could have been a manufacturing issue, an installation issue, or something else,” he said.

Workers shut down water services to businesses at 4 p.m., but before that, they went door-to-door to every business to notify them of the impending shut-off, Crouse said.

Businesses that were without water service included Shaw’s supermarket, Applebee’s, Flagship Cinema and the mall across the street from the plaza.

Crouse said no homes were included in the water service shutdown, but some people in the residential neighborhood to the east of and adjacent to Shaw’s reported low water pressure or no pressure.

The pipe was installed in 1966. The water district has about 170 miles of pipe in Waterville, Winslow, Vassalboro, Fairfield and Benton and the water they carry comes from China Lake. The District pumps an average of 3 million gallons a day from the lake and has 9,000 customers, according to Crouse.

Tuesday’s water main break came five days after the Water District on Thursday fixed a water main break on Appleton Street near the Waterville Public Library. That also was a 12-inch pipe installed in 1966. The cause was determined to be corrosion of the pipe’s exterior which caused it to become weak.