Watch CBS News

'Old Infrastructure,' Winter Weather Causes Water Main Break In Brockton

BROCKTON (CBS) -- A Brockton neighborhood spent Sunday without water after an overnight water main break. The incident occurred around 3 a.m. near North Main Street and Upland Road.

"It's a ruptured 18-inch water main," explained DPW Commissioner Lawrence Rowley. Around 50 homes and businesses were impacted.

"The age that's on the pipe is 1936. It's old infrastructure and that's what happened," Rowley continued. "We did find it. It's just a matter now of excavating it out and putting it back together which we're doing now."

Those who did not lose water services completely discovered their water was brown and had low pressure.

Steve Britton said, "We had to delay making dinner until everything got resolved. . . It's still brown when you flush the bathroom toilet it's still brown." He was doing his best to be patient, though.

The winter weather did not make the recovery process any easier for DPW crews. "The infrastructure is aging, not just in this city but everywhere. Then you get the cold weather, you get the frost, you get a little movement in the ground, it just snaps," said Rowley.

Service was expected to return to normal around 7 p.m. Sunday.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.