Sprinkler testing turns water brown from Village to Kenberma
/By Christopher Haraden
Boston music fans are familiar with The Standells’ song about how much they “love that dirty water,” but many Hull residents were singing the blues this week when they unexpectedly encountered brown water flowing from their taps.
On Monday, a private contractor at the apartment building at 1 A Street conducted the annual test of the high-rise’s sprinkler system. The work caused a disturbance within the Weir River Water System that sent discolored water through the pipes and into homes from Hull Village to Kenberma.
“Typically these tests are performed in a controlled manner and have little, if any, adverse effect on the water system,” said WRWS Managing Director/Superintendent Russell Tierney. “In this case, we experienced discolored water in the area. Our crews responded immediately and worked through the day and into the night mitigating the issue.”
The testing firm, Encore Fire Protection, completed its work on Monday. Residents in most parts of town reported that the water had cleared up by Tuesday afternoon, but some areas still showed discoloration.
“As of early Tuesday morning the water mains in the affected areas were running clear and we were responding to individual homes as requested to assist in clearing their service lines,” the water company said in a statement issued Wednesday evening.
On Monday, WRWS’s initial communication on Facebook indicated that the contractor had not given customary notification of the testing so that nearby customers could be alerted. On Wednesday, however, Tierney and Hull Fire Chief Chris Russo said the company did notify the Hull’s fire prevention office at town hall. WRWS later edited its social media post to remove the references to whether notice had been provided.
“Prior notice is not a requirement for private fire system testing; it is a courtesy for WRWS to know that these tests are being performed,” Tierney said. “The company did notify them [Hull Fire] but in the morning, and by the time the message was received by Hull FD, they were already performing the test.”
Tierney and Russo said the policy for private fire-flow tests is being revised to request 48 hours’ notice for future testing. This will allow the water company, fire department, and residents to be notified about the work and to prepare for potential disruptions.
“Letters will be sent to all customers who have fire services that require annual flow testing to ensure that they contact both the Weir River Water System and local fire departments 48 hours prior to conducting these tests,” according to the water company’s statement.
“It’s important to note that while this particular scenario was an absolute inconvenience for our residents, it has never happened prior with testing on any required location,” Russo said. “Response was immediate and communication was sent quickly as possible once the location was determined.”
Residents with complaints about damage to laundry or household fixtures should contact the water company, although Tierney said there is no compensation for having to keep the taps open to clear discoloration from the household pipes. Running the water for extended periods before use is the solution that the water company typically recommends to customers.
“Any potential claims can be submitted to the WRWS; however, we do not credit for water usage,” Tierney said.
Weir River Water also said the company is looking beyond Monday’s fire-flow test to determine if something else caused the discoloration.
“There are several factors that can lead to this type of event, and over the next few days we will investigate if there’s any other circumstances that contributed to this incident,” according to Wednesday’s statement.
Tierney said that residents still experiencing problems should email waterquality@weirriverwater.com.
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