Water Restored After Main Break Causes Geyser in Hartford

A water main break shot water into the air on New Britain Avenue in Hartford on Thursday afternoon, which affected traffic for around 18 hours.

The intersection of New Britain and Newfield avenues in Hartford flooded right around 5 p.m. on Thursday. Vehicles were still getting by right after it happened, but traffic would be impacted until late Friday morning.

An NBC Connecticut crew at the scene reported that water gushed into the road for more than two hours and caused significant damage to the road before Metropolitan District crews could shut down service in the area.

[HAR] Water Main Break Caused Geyser in Hartford

Crews were at the scene overnight and shutdown the 12-inch water main that was installed in 1907.

MDC officials said many of the water lines in this area are old and difficult to inspect because it requires tearing up the road to do so. Nine homes were affected by the shutdown, but water was restored as of 5:15 a.m. on Friday. 

Crews spent hours excavating to inspect utilities and announced just after 3 p.m. on Friday that the road cleanup and restoration is complete. Newfield Street, however, still remained closed as of 3:15 p.m.

Residents in the area expressed frustration that the water wasn’t shut off more quickly.

“What about my basement? Do you care about my basement, my house?” said Hartford resident Adesh Singh, who had 3 inches of water pour into his basement.

MDC officials said they had to sequentially turn off valves to find the source of the leak and make repairs.
 

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