Waterbury schools expected to be closed Monday as crews repair water main break

Schools in Waterbury could be closed on Monday, because the city is expecting to start permanent repairs a water main break.

Homes will have water this weekend, but the city is expecting to shut off the water early Monday morning so they can install a part to the main.

The break spilled millions of gallons of water, causing half the city to lose water and forcing schools to close.

“I was just home watching TV, and the water went off, like, it just was like, okay, no water. We didn’t even lose pressure. We just lost all water,” said Amber Green of Waterbury. “You don’t realize how much you need your water until you lose it, but once it came back on, I just felt more comfortable.”

Water was restored Thursday night and the city expected to make repairs Friday, but they’re still waiting on a part from Texas.

That part is expected to arrive on Sunday. If it comes on time, the city plans to shut off the water for six hours early Monday morning to make repairs.

“It’s possible if all of this goes well and everything works the way, we’re hoping it will at this point, that we shouldn’t lose water in most of the city,” said Mayor Paul Pernerewski Jr.

Pernerewski said those who lost water this week could lose water again for those six hours. He said families will be notified by Sunday evening if schools are closed Monday.

The fire department and Waterbury hospitals have extra water tanks on standby if they are impacted this weekend.

A boil water advisory is in effect for homes that didn’t have water or saw a drop in water pressure this week. The city plans on collecting water samples to test for bacteria after the repairs are made Monday.

Work is underway to evaluate and replace water pipes across the city, which are 130 years old, according to the mayor.

“You’ve got two things that that keep it from happening all at once. One is just the cost. We couldn’t afford to do all of the repairs at one time, but, secondly, you can’t repair the entire system at once, because you’d have to shut the entire system down and we can see what a nightmare that is right now,” he said. “So we have to do this incrementally, but we are aware of it and we are beginning to build up. We do have a program for replacing lines and the rest of it right now.”