Water Main Repairs Fail in New Britain

When workers tried to shut off water to the 20" main that broke Friday in New Britain, the valves they turned did nothing.  After working til 6 pm Saturday they went home, leaving a few families on Corbin Avenue between Somerset and Hooker Streets without running water.

Some of them had a good attitude, detailing how they are coping, while they watched water roar up from the broken main and down into the storm drain.

"Use my dehumidifier to flush down the toilet water," said Donna Potvin, who was glad she still had electricity.  She also pointed out that while she had no running water, her daughter did - in Afghanistan with the Marines.

Nearby, Christina Spray showed off her solution, jugs of water she's kept in her backyard for watering plants.

"But it's all rainwater," she said, "so I'm either gonna have to boil it, or use it for toilets, and go buy gallons of drinking water."

The city government is bringing in a contractor from Indiana to install a "line stop".  Once that's done, according to a memo to affected residents from the city superintendent of water and sewer, it'll be "everything back to normal...late Sunday and into Monday afternoon."

"There are no excuses," said the memo from Kenneth Marzi. "We tried our best.  "However, we must insure a safe working environment for our employees and as of this writing, we could not."

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