LYNNFIELD — A water main break on Summer Street wreaked havoc Tuesday morning, causing the closure of the Summer Street Elementary School and leaving several area residents without water.
The break occurred near the Reedy Meadow Golf Course. Water was shut down to Summer Street residents from Westover Drive to Todd Lane.
Water was gradually restored to affected homes and businesses starting at about 3 p.m.
Lynnfield Center Water District Superintendent John Scenna said initial alarms for a drop in storage volume and pressure started coming in between 3 and 3:30 a.m.
“Those statistics showed us we were losing water somewhere in the system, initially up to 3,000 gallons per minute,” Scenna said. “Our operatives were sharp enough to drive around to find the source of the problem. We finally isolated the problem at around 5:30 a.m. after discovering ponding on the site of the golf course to the left of the parking lot, so we knew that was likely where the crack in the pipe was.”
Scenna said that because of the complexity of the problem, he knew that water could not be restored to the Summer Street School; this prompted the decision to close down the school for the day. He said that other areas within the town were also reporting discolored water and air in the water, including King James Grant and Orchard Lane.
“However, given the severity of the leak and amount of water lost, customers throughout the district will experience discoloration and loss of pressure until repair is complete and the system stabilizes,” Scenna said. “We expect everyone will have water back by Tuesday night, but it will take overnight to get back to regulated normal conditions for the system.”
Scenna said approximately 250,000 gallons of water were lost due to the main break.
Superintendent of Schools Kristen Vogel said she is anticipating a normal school day on Wednesday at the Summer Street School.
