Hanover Pond on Track for Friday Refill

City workers may begin refilling Hanover Pond this Friday, exactly a week after a sewer pipe break forced the city to partially drain the South Meriden body of water.

"We're hoping to patch the top of the pipe and get everything good by the end of the week," Public Utilities Superintendent Dennis Waz said Monday afternoon. He added that rain and snow forecasted for Wednesday and Thursday could slow the process down, though, if it significantly increases the water level before workers are done fixing the pipe.

A quick refill would be especially good news for local wildlife, like turtles, fish, and the city’s prized eagles.  

“We expect no adverse harm to wildlife,” Conn. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesman Dwayne Gardener said of the break and subsequent draining. “The period of time the pond is drawn down is going to be brief and there is still water available.” 

The 24-inch sewer line broke open Friday when city contractors Green Mountain Pipeline Services were placing a liner into it, according to the DEP. The company has been lining sewer pipes throughout the city since last October, ironically to protect against leaks – the liners are supposed to increase the lifespan of the pipes by at least 50 more years.

“It basically rejuvenates the whole pipe,” Waz said. “It has a resin liner, resin finish which improves the velocity of the water.”

Green Mountain’s equipment reportedly hit a short section of metal liner covered with bricks in the concrete pipe, the site of an old repair. The city staff and contractor did not know about the previous repair until the failure occurred, according to Waz.

Since the break, crews have been working around the clock to fully fix and line the pipe. According to Waz, the city will be paying for these overtime costs. City Finance Director Michael Lupkas said Tuesday that he hadn’t yet seen a full cost estimate for the additional work, but that funding would likely come out of Meriden’s Enterprise Fund for the sewers.

City crews partially drained the pond to halt the pond water that was flowing into the water treatment plant.

No sewage escaped the line, because it had already been bypassed during the lining project, officials say. According to Gardener, even if the pipe had not been bypassed it would not have leaked because it is a gravity pipe rather than a forced one, acting as more of a drain than a pressurized pipe.

“No leakage would have occurred out of the pipe unless the water level in the pond was lower than the water level in the pipe,” Gardener said.

Workers have lined the pipe and are now waiting until Tuesday afternoon for the liner to cure before they complete patching the pipe, according to Waz. After this sets, they can close the gates of the dam again to refill.