WHATELY — Residents in the neighborhood of Chestnut Plain Road may have experienced a disruption in their water service on Monday, as the Water District merged with the town’s Water Department.
Beginning at 9 a.m., the Water Department began switching over the more than 40 connections — including Town Hall, the Whately Inn and dozens of homes — that have been served by the Whately Water District since it was formed in the 1970s, nearly finishing a project several years in the making.
Aging infrastructure, a small customer base and a limited water supply were among the reasons the merger was undertaken years ago. Voters at special Town Meeting in 2016 appropriated $40,000 to hire an engineer to make the final design of a connection between the two systems.
“To upgrade everything, to put that cost on 44 houses would be huge. That was kind of the big driver — their system needed a lot of upgrades and their wells don’t really produce enough water for them, especially in the summer,” Whately Water Superintendent Wayne Hutkoski said. “Instead of having one larger system in town and one smaller system, it just makes sense to make it all one.”
By comparison, the Water Department has about 400 connections in town, serving 365 residential houses.
The post on the website also notified customers that the Water Department will need to get into each building to put a new meter head on. Customers are asked to email the Water Department at water@whately.org to coordinate a day and time.
After the switch, residents may see manganese pieces in the water as 50 years of buildup is flushed. Hutkoski said people should run their faucets for a few minutes if they see manganese or other sediment. If sediment continues to come through the faucet or water pressure changes drastically, people should call the department at 413-665-3080.
In total, Hutkoski said the project required about $220,000, which came from the Water Department, the town, the Water District and customers who are hooked up to the system. The Highway Department conducted site work for the booster station and the Water Department had to install just 200 feet of new pipes because the Water District’s infrastructure will be reused.
“Everyone gave a little bit,” Hutkoski said. “It’s a small community. It’s one of those things where they finally came together.”
After Monday’s switch, the project will be one step away from completion, as the Water District awaits a generator for the booster station, which is needed to pump water in the case of a power outage.
“We were ready to go last fall, but then it was just too late to do the digging and pour concrete — that’s why we waited until this spring. … Besides the generator, the stuff came in a reasonable amount of time,” Hutkoski explained.