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Coupling involved in water main break found

WBZ-AM file

The massive coupling blamed for the May 1 water main break that forced 2 million Boston-area residents to boil their drinking water was located Thursday in the excavation adjacent to the pipe.

The 1-ton coupling was located at around 2 p.m. in the excavation adjacent to the pipe in Weston.

Earlier Thursday, the second "sealing plate" - a small component of the coupling - was also found.  The other sealing plate was found a couple of weeks ago.

This comes on the same day the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority announced subpoenas against the company that manufactured the massive coupling.

MWRA officials say they want additional documents from Pennsylvania-based Victaulic Company during the installation of the coupling that held together two sections of the 10-foot pipe.

A Victaulic spokesman said there could be other factors for the blowout, including the coupling's installation or the pipe system.

The MWRA said the initial design called for the two sections of pipe to be welded together, but that was changed at the request of the contractor.

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