Auburn Water Tower Ruptures & Spills 300K Gallons

May 28, 2011 2:17 PM

A water tower in Auburn collapsed and spilled 300,000 gallons on May 28, 2011.

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AUBURN (CBS) – A privately-owned water tank owned by Filene’s Basement Distribution Center ruptured and collapsed Saturday morning, sending 300,000 gallons of water pouring out.

The tank on Millbury Street in Auburn suffered a “catastrophic” failure according the Auburn Water District’s Superintendent.

The incident is not expected to cause any contamination, but officials say residents may encounter some cloudiness in their water.

Filene’s has hired contractors to secure the site.

Auburn Water Tower Ruptures & Spills 300K Gallons

John

is this the water for the town of Auburn? If so and the tank collapsed where are they getting water from. If not, why would their water be cloudy? Is it common for a private company to own a water tank like that? Not enough info WBZ!
RocketScientist

John, let’s use some common sense here. A privately-owned water tank obviously isn’t used for the town of Auburn. A tank at a huge facility like a distribution center is being used for irrigation, maintenance, fire protection and other gray water uses. Obviously the tank has to fill up somehow, which is through large diameter pipes from the town supply. Having the tank rupture probably causes sediment in the town pipes to kick up when computers tried to fill the ruptured tank back up.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist here John, just a little common sense.
emom

Exactly any pipe that ruptures will cause sediment to gain access to the pipes,,, The town sends us a notice telling us to flush our water tanks after they flush the hydrants as well,, HONESTLY how else do you think these things happen… One thing I don’t get, If this tank was PRIVATELY OWNED, WHO was maintaining it…. Certainly not the town,, and since it ruptured and had a failure of some kind . Then it would seem to me , that the tank HAD NOT BEEN maintained in some time.. Also Didn’t FILENES BASEMENT go out of business????? So who was in charge of it.

Stephen Rost

http://www.filenesbasement.com/store_locator.php

In Business – though not on Washinton Street.
SR

SYMS CEO & Chairman Marcy Syms

Rings the NASDAQ Closing Bell Watch Now

http://www.filenesbasement.com/nasdaq.php

i.e. In Business – though not on Washington Street.

mackytack

hey rocket scientist…john asked a couple of questions…
you don’t have to be a complete jerk when answering…

RocketScientist

Yes I do. The kind of questions asked and commentary posted on this site is absolutely terrible. The only way to make reading the comments just a bit more tolerable is to scare off all the dumb people.

2cents

Because someone doesn’t think though thier reply before posting doesn’t mean they are dumb. I for one enjoy the banter of those with different viewpoints. What this post does show is that RS is arrogant, condisending, and rude.
JerkHater

RocketScientist, i am with mackytack on this, you were being a jerk. It is nice to know you know are a jerk. No you do not have to be a jerk! I’d rather have dumb people around me then a jerks. John is not dumb he is only asking a question that BZ should have already answered. The only person who is dumb is the one who doesn’t ask a question. I’ll make sure I ask as many questions as possible if I know it bugs someone.

justsayin’

Just to play devils advocate here…RocketScientist you say it is common sense…No you are wrong dear. One could have thought that since the water tank is privately owned that maybe they trucked the water in. As always WBZ makes the reader make assumptions. In this case the assumptions are probably correct. But given the assumptions I have to wonder why a town would allow a private company to have their own water tank fed by the town for gray water type usage, when residents in most towns have water usage restrictions.
RocketScientist

Haters be hatin’
dismayed

See why we have conflicts and wars? People can’t even get along over a topic. An unimportant one at that.
brat

Likely the town required the property owner to have an ample supply of water for fire suppression. It would be not different than if the building had a fire and the water for putting the fire out came from the towns water pipes. This tank would prevent overloading the pipes and depriving the citizens of water for their basic needs

brat

Some large buildings have ponds that are also used for recreational purposes.

Google it.

A September 2010 Google Earth photo shows a large amount of rust on the top of this tank. Maybe lack of maintenance.
Wile E Coyote

RocketScientist: Not.