Two underground water main leaks — one in Needham, one in Wellesley — prompted a townwide alert and request last Friday evening for residents to reduce water use. While the water remained safe to drink and no service was interrupted, officials say the breaks underscore the deeper concern of the aging infrastructure and the lack of redundancy in the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority system.
The two leaks were discovered July 25 after reports of water on Worcester Street in Wellesley and near Captain Robert Cook Drive in Needham. The leaks sprang from a steel pipeline installed in the 1950s, which MWRA officials say is prone to corrosion leaks.
The Wellesley leak was repaired the next day and Needham’s on Tuesday, without impact to service as a heat wave gripped the region. As a precaution, Needham officials had issued the Friday alert urging residents to limit water use until repairs were complete. That included suspending lawn irrigation, postponing car washing, and limiting indoor water use to essential needs only. The alert ended Tuesday evening as repairs were completed and service returned to normal.
“These leaks highlight the need for redundancy for this section of pipeline so that it can be taken out of service for rehabilitation,” said Katie Ronan, chief of staff at the MWRA. “MWRA’s Metropolitan Water Tunnel Program will provide that redundancy.”
The tunnel program, which is still in the design phase, aims to modernize and expand the region’s water-delivery infrastructure. But with that long-term solution still years away, the MWRA is now evaluating interim measures to reduce the risk of future service disruptions.
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