There is a severe water shortage in town due to this week’s heat wave, warned Hopkinton Water-Sewer Manager Eric Carty on Thursday afternoon, advising residents to be judicious in their usage because of “an enormous strain on the water system.”
“Pumps are struggling to stay pace with demand and we have been unable to refill the storage tanks to safe levels,” Carty explained in a statement. “This poses a threat to both firefighting capability and any water emergencies that may happen.”
He added that Wednesday’s power outages caused his department to loses several pumping hours. Well stations had to be reset after generators came back on.
“We ask that you please use water judiciously and to follow all the required restrictions,” stated Carty. “Pumps are running well beyond normal operational hours, and this does not allow for proper recharge to the aquifers. We ask for your immediate cooperation to help avoid any further restrictions.”
For all customers connected to the municipal water system, the following restrictions are in place until Sept. 30.
Watering lawns, including the use of sprinklers, is allowed for up to two days per week before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m. All other non-essential use is permitted before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. Lawn watering details are based on the voting precinct in which a person lives as follows:
Precinct 1: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Precinct 2: Wednesdays and Fridays
Precinct 3: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Precinct 4: Wednesdays and Fridays
Precinct 5: Wednesdays and Fridays
Carty stressed that lawn watering is prohibited on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. The first offense will generate a written warning. People who violate the restriction a second time will incur a $100 fine. Water service may be suspended for the third offense and beyond.
Mr. Carty, please explain the water crisis. No blather or Yada, Yada, Yada about State regulations, just some specifics please.
As you are aware, this area has just come off a Winter and Spring that had unprecedented and record-breaking precipitation. The lakes are full, the rivers and creeks about overflowing, and we receive flood alerts about every time that rain is expected.
But yet, 3 DAYS of high heat brings our water system to its knees????? During this time, I traveled through most areas of the Town and can assure you that at 95 degrees, nobody was out watering their lawns, cleaning off the driveway or washing cars. No little kids running thru sprinklers on the front lawn. About all of us were hunkered down near the fans and A/C, praying that the electricity didn’t fail (likely to be caused by the Town and Eversource fiasco occurring on Main St.).
With the water laden with chemicals, we certainly can’t drink it, so where pray tell is the water going?
With the engineering studies, planning and constructions costs of the MWRA tie-in we will receive a 40% cost increase for water that we can’t drink. When completed, the project will have our water rates about triple (or more) than present cost. Yet I see no activity or action to recover these costs from those that created the problem. Albeit not 100% proven but the Fire Academy and State should be taken to court for all costs, vs. saddling the rate payers.
IMHO, this Town is just one fiasco after another with extremely little leadership in sight.
It would seem that this town (and the entire country) is growing faster than the infrastructure required to support such growth.
How could town government not forsee this current water crisis while authorizing the construction of hundreds of housing units?