Boston Water Main Break: Drinking Water Crisis

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BOSTON (GaeaTimes.com)- On Saturday at around 10 AM reportedly, a severe leak developed in a 10 foot wide major water pipeline that connects the water supply of the Greater Boston area to the Quabbin Reservoir. The Boston water main break led water gushing out of the pipe at a rate of around 8 million gallons per hour. The situation continued to worsen till the afternoon when the State officials stopped the leak and the repair work was begun by the workers. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority head Fred Laskey said to media sources that he thinks that the leak would take days to get repaired but hopes that it will not take weeks.

The Massachusetts authorities declared a state of emergency and millions of residents of the Greater Boston area were instructed to boil their drinking water at least for a minute before consuming it. Since the Quabbin Reservoir is a major reservoir which supplies water to the Greater Boston area residents, the crisis became all the more pronounced. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority last night activated a backup system reportedly to continue uninterrupted water supply to the residents and the business establishments but maintained that the water that is being supplied would fail to meet the federal standard for drinking water. The backup water can be used by residents for bathing, car washing and other household needs except drinking.

However, the authorities have not clearly stated the number of days that the residents of Boston have to boil the water. According to some reports the sudden crisis of drinking water has led to an increased sale of bottled purified drinking water in the Boston area retail chains.