Point Judith's 'Catastrophic' Water Main Break, Explained

NARRAGANSETT, RI — Much of the Point Judith area experienced low pressure or water discoloration on Tuesday evening following what the Narragansett town engineer called a "catastrophic break" to a water main on Angell Road. Following that repair, two additional, smaller pipe issues were reported on Chestnut Avenue and Southern View Drive on Wednesday.

The first, major break happened at 112 Angell Rd. around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jonathan Gerhard, the town engineer, said. Approximately two feet of the 10-inch wide pipe was damaged, which caused a massive flood of water to leak out.

"It was what we would call a catastrophic break," he said. "There was water flowing like gangbusters."

By 5:30 p.m., crews had shut off the valves to isolate the pipe. Part of the reason the shutoff took so long was that with such a heavy flow of water gushing out of the pipe, closing it off too fast could have created a problem.

"When you've got that much water, you can't shut it off quickly or it could create too much pressure," Gerhard said.

Once the pipe was isolated, crews were able to get to work on repairs, completely replacing the 13-foot section of pipe. During that time, eight customers on Angell Road were completely without water service until approximately 1 a.m., while the entire area experienced low pressure and/or water discoloration while the tanks refilled.

"Nobody will have water when you're draining that much [at one time]," Gerhard said, adding that the discoloration comes when "things are kicked up" by the flushing of the system. The best way to get rid of it is to turn on cold taps until the water runs clear.

While the exact cause of the water main break is not known, there are several factors that could have contributed, he said, including freezing and thawing of the pipe, the brittleness of the pipe or that the break was near a collar, or connecting piece, which often experience higher levels of stress than elsewhere on the pipe.

Full repairs on the main were completed around 1 a.m. on Wednesday. Just a few hours later, another pipe issue was called in at Southern View Drive around 8:15 a.m. While reported to the public as another water main break, it was a far smaller issue, possibly caused by the shock to the system on Tuesday, Gerhard said.

When the leak was reported, crews shut off service to the area while they worked to find the source, which they identified as a fire hydrant. Because hydrants are connected to offshoots, rather than to the main pipe directly, workers were able to isolate the hydrant and restore service to residents by 11:45 a.m. and the impacts to residents were minimal. Workers were unsure about the exact placement of underground electrical lines in the area, so further digging was delayed and the hydrant will be repaired or replaced at a slightly later date, Gerhard said.

The third and final leak was reported on Chestnut Avenue just as crews restored service to Southern View Drive at 11:45 a.m. As with the hydrant leak, the issue was reported as a water main break but was not a major issue, Gerhard said, rather a leak in a plastic service pipe off the main line. The small pipe was replaced, and is believed to have cracked because it was faulty or old. Service to approximately one block of Chestnut Street was shut off from around 12 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

While it's not certain that all three incidents were related, Gerhard said a major event like the break on Tuesday evening can lead to smaller issues like the hydrant and service pipe leaks.

"Right now, we're trying to get everything mopped up, cleaned up and squared away," Gerhard said.