Water main break on Maple Avenue repaired

Warwick — The Wawayanda Stream wasn’t the only water flowing through the village Monday. A water main break, which happened toward the end of Applefest on Sunday, cut off water to some residents for part of the day Monday and caused low water pressure into Tuesday before the break was clamped by the Department of Public Works department. Mayor Michael Newhard said it happened where two mains meet, on Maple Avenue by the St. Anthony Community Hospital’s Emergency Room entrance. Water flowed into the village on Sunday evening and the flow increased on Monday, according to DPW supervisor Steve Sisco. “It started leaking on Sunday,” said Sisco. “The head of the water department saw it. It wasn’t bad at that point. By Monday it had gotten bigger.” Most of the village’s DPW workers worked on the problem, digging the four to five feet down to eventually make the fix. The cause of the break is not known, although both Sisco and Newhard said it could have been caused by traffic running over the valve and old age. St. Anthony Community Hospital is in the process of a major expansion project near the site. That construction was not the cause of the break, according to Newhard. Village residents on Maple Avenue and in the hospital experienced low water pressure much of the day until DPW had to turn off the water at one point on Monday, leaving those residents without village water. Water was turned back on later in the day. When the pressure had subsided by Tuesday morning, Sisco said the pipe was clamped and water was restored as normal. Jean Ciampo, director of marketing at St. Anthony Community Hospital, said emergency protocols were put into effect and the hospital ran as usual. “We never diverted patients and we never ran out of water,” said Ciampo. “That’s what we have an emergency plan for. If it’s a good one, it works, and this did.” Many of the pipes carrying the village’s water are upwards of 80 years old, according to Sisco. Some in the downtown area are even older, nearing 100 years. That is not a major concern to him, though, he said, noting that breaks happen probably every year or so, but the fixes are permanent. No need to replace the system anytime yet.