MONTPELIER, Vt.—Two major water main breaks caused city water service to be lost for much of the day Wednesday, shutting restaurants, leaving residents unable to shower, sending state workers home for the day and leading city officials to issue a boil-water order.
One struck just a block from the Vermont Statehouse, washing away a big chunk of a street.
Assistant City Manager Beverlee Pembroke Hill said the water main break under Taylor Street released an estimated 5,000 gallons a minute before water could be rerouted. The second leak, up a steep hill from downtown on Hubbard Park Drive, was similar in volume, Hill said.
Water service was restored to the downtown area by midday, but not before several of the city's restaurants shut down for lack of water. Pressure was being restored slowly to neighborhoods on the steep hills surrounding downtown.
The center of the nation's smallest state capital, population about 8,000, is squeezed into two narrow valleys at the confluence of the North Branch and Winooski rivers.
State offices were closed as of 7 a.m. With water being restored by afternoon, second- and third-shift state workers were told to report to work.
The city urged residents to use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and preparing food. Hill said the order was likely to remain in place until Thursday afternoon. Fluctuations in water pressure could allow bacteria and other harmful organisms to enter the water system and contaminate drinking water, city officials said.
At the Coffee Corner restaurant, co-owner Beth Manahan said she closed at about 10:30 a.m. but was able to reopen for lunch. "Then we were slammed," she said, as a normally busy day during the holiday week was made more so by the fact that several other eateries didn't reopen.
The coffee maker boils water, the dishwasher heats it enough and sodas are mixed with bottled water, Manahan said. "The only thing we can't give you is tap water."
Sarducci's, an Italian restaurant, had a sign on its door saying it was closed. Chef Bob Harris, 37, and waitress Mariel Cykon, 20, took advantage of the unexpected hours off to get caught up on their laundry; they were only able to do so because the laundromat they were at uses well water.
"That's lucky," said Diadel Ortiz, a worker at the laundry. "We just don't have a bathroom. That's on the city system."
Hill said a combination of factors likely led to the breaks. A wet summer meant there's ample moisture in the ground. Thin snow cover so far this winter has denied the system the extra blanket it often has when the weather is cold. The overnight low was near zero degrees.
