A car accident in front of the Bromfield School Saturday evening broke a hydrant connected to a town center water main, nearly emptying the system’s sole storage tank and halting the supply of water to homes and businesses in the town center. In the aftermath, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an order that required the town’s public water customers to boil tap water before use. In response, the Fire Department distributed bottled water to affected residents and businesses. The boil-water order was lifted around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The break was caused when a juvenile driver struck a fire hydrant located on the roundabout in front of the Bromfield School, creating a gusher that almost drained the town’s storage tank before DPW workers could shut off the flow. The hydrant is at one of the lowest points in town, Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Press, so water pressure in the 12-inch main was high. He added that the fire hydrants have a valve that is supposed to close if the hydrant breaks off, but that didn’t happen.
According to the police report, the young driver said he was leaving the school parking lot when his cell phone pinged and he reached for it. He told police he dropped the phone and leaned over to pick it up while the car was still moving. The car went over the curb and struck the hydrant. The driver has been cited for using a mobile device while driving and a marked lanes violation. No one was injured, and the car was towed from the scene.
A DPW crew of six men repaired the break and replaced the hydrant overnight. Because the rushing water had washed out a 20-foot section of the Bromfield driveway, temporarily patching that gap required bringing in new fill material. DPW crews could be seen finishing repairs in front of the Bromfield School Sunday morning. “It’s not what I expected to be doing,” said crew member Joe Miller, who along with his yellow-vested compatriots had been up all night fixing the leak. Kilhart said the town’s emergency dispatch service had also called for a sanding crew on Harvard’s roads just after midnight, adding to the workload of the weary team.
DPW crew members refill the area excavated to replace a ruptured fire hydrant in front of the Bromfield School following a Saturday night accident. (Photo courtesy of Harvard Public Schools)
Town center
Town center residents learned of the accident Sunday morning. Reverse 911 calls advised that although water was available, customers should refrain from using it as much as possible so the 310,000-gallon tank could be refilled. “You may have some water, but it will be very limited and you could have low water pressure. Please do not use the water if you can, for this will help in filling the tank,” Kilhart said in the recorded announcement. Later that day residents received three cases of bottled water and a two-page document explaining what had happened and how to use their tap water while the boil-water order was in effect.
Water gushes from a burst hydrant. (Photo courtesy of Harvard Police)
Kilhart said the DEP had issued the boil-water order as a precaution. There was no overt sign that town water was contaminated, but because the loss of water had been so extreme there was concern that tank sediment or other material could have entered the system. The DEP also ordered emergency chlorination of the system. After that procedure, two consecutive tests with negative results were required to lift the order. On Tuesday afternoon, Kilhart told the Press town water had passed the first test; results of the second test came in Wednesday morning and also showed the water to be clean.
Town buildings were open for business as usual Monday, but with orders that no one should drink water from faucets or water fountains. In addition, per instructions from Nashoba Boards of Health, signs were posted in the bathrooms instructing people to wash their hands with soap and water followed by hand sanitizer, which the town supplied.
Schools and businesses
The boil-water order affected both businesses and residents in town center. The General Store’s kitchen was closed Sunday, and the store was not serving coffee. By Tuesday, coffee was being brewed in two household coffee makers, but the kitchen remained closed. Store owner Scott Hayward told the Press Tuesday that his business had slowed to a third of its normal level. When the boil-water order was lifted Wednesday, the store announced that it would have limited lunch service that day and resume normal breakfast and lunch service Thursday morning.
Schools were closed Monday while the water tank refilled, but Town Hall offices were fully staffed. The library and Hildreth House were also open. Construction work continued on the new elementary school, but without the use of water. By Tuesday, the DPW said work crews could again use town water, but no more than 200 gallons that day.
Both Hildreth Elementary and the Bromfield School reopened Tuesday with ample supplies of hand sanitizer in the restrooms. Bromfield Principal Scott Hoffman said the school bought 20 extra bottles of sanitizer to supplement what was already in stock.
Chef Paul Correnty, head of the school food service, said his kitchens had plenty of five-gallon bottles of water on hand for food preparation and could use disposable plates and cutlery. “We are prepared for this kind of event, having been through it last year with contamination of one of the wells,” he wrote. “We reached out to the Board of Health for guidance and were given the OK.” And luckily he had already made the stocks for soups he will sell later this week.
‘A hell of a job’
Kilhart said he got the phone call about the water pipe break from the police about 8:15 p.m. Saturday. He added that the tank does have a low-water alarm, and it was triggered, but not until DPW workers were already on their way. He said the tank had about 275,000 gallons of water in it on Saturday before the accident. Town wells are able to pump a maximum of 3,000 gallons an hour, but the tank typically receives water only at night when demand is low. By Tuesday evening, a notice on the town website said the tank was a little over half full, and residents were asked to continue to use water sparingly. Kilbert expects it to be back to normal Friday.
None of the DPW’s workers lives near Harvard, so it took about 45 minutes for the first workers to arrive on the scene. They had to set up a light tower to see what they were doing, and shutting off the water proved to be a challenge. Kilhart said workers could not “get a wrench on” the shutoff valve next to the hydrant because so much dirt had been pushed into that area when the accident occurred. Instead, they had to use two other turnoff valves, one on Mass. Ave. and one near Pond Road, to stop the torrent. Dig Safe, which had to be called to ensure there were no gas lines in the area where workers had to excavate, didn’t arrive until 1 a.m., delaying work even longer. But Kilhart said the DPW had a new hydrant in stock, along with all the parts needed to install it, so the repair was completed by Sunday morning. He praised his crew for their efforts, saying, “They did a hell of a job that night.”
Multiple town-center residents told the Press the town had done a good job keeping them informed of the situation, and they were grateful for the quick delivery of bottled water. Bragan said he also thought the situation was handled well by the DPW and other town officials, and he thanked residents for their patience in an email a few days after the event. Water Commission Chair Cindy Russo told the Press the commission is grateful for the “many town employees and volunteers who really stepped up to respond to the situation created by this accident.” She said the commission planned to discuss the water pipe break and the response at a special meeting Wednesday, Feb. 5.
As for the cost of the repairs, Bragan said he doesn’t know the full amount yet, but the town may file a claim against the driver’s insurance company.
John Osborn contributed to this story.
