HOLYOKE — Full water service was expected to be restored Wednesday after a water main break the previous day on Beech Street knocked out the utility for much of the city.
At around 6 p.m. Tuesday, Mayor Alex Morse wrote on his Facebook page that the water main break had caused low pressure or no water “through a good part of the city.”
On Wednesday, Morse anncounced that the water department was turning on water service at Beech Street and that full service was expected within the morning. Water lines were being flushed to make sure residents had minimal disruption to water quality, he said, adding that by Thursday things should be normal.
Morse also wrote Wednesday that the city’s water department was making temporary repairs to Beech Street on the southbound lane and that traffic flow would be limited until repairs were completed on the northbound lane.
Also Tuesday, the mayor said Holyoke Water Works had told him the break had happened on the 16-inch transmission main on Beech Street at the intersection of Linden Street across from Holyoke High School. The main is the primary source of water for “a large portion of the northern end of the High Service Water System which services all of Northampton Street from Beech Street northerly to the Delaney House,” Morse wrote.
Homes directly affected by the break that were without water service were located on Beech Street from Northampton Street to West Franklin Street and on some sections of Linden Street, Morse said on Tuesday. Those in the Northampton Street area as far east as Sargeant Street might have experienced low water pressure, he wrote.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.