WEST ROCKPORT — Mainers are used to losing power for a few hours, and when it happens in the middle of the night, we often don’t realize it in the summer unless the window fan goes silent or we wake up and the clock on the nightstand is blinking. When the water goes off, it’s a different story, and not something we’re used to.

“We have systems in place to prevent a power outage from affecting water delivery, but they failed us for a few hours overnight,” said Rick Knowlton, vice president of operations for Maine Water.

Residents along Route 90 in West Rockport, especially those in higher elevations and the subdivision adjacent to Mirror Lake, were without water for about four hours overnight. Knowlton said the problem was with the auxiliary generator, which is supposed to kick in when there is a power outage.

“The system is designed to transfer power to the backup, but it didn’t function as designed,” said Knowlton. “The battery ended up running out, so the plant was off long enough to affect people in the immediate area along Route 90.”

He said that the water tank on Mirror Lake holds about a million gallons, and it’s the first to be filled from the treatment plant. It’s also the first to be affected when pressure begins to lower, due to the elevation of the customers it serves. “When that tank is drawn down, then the plant better be running or people will be out of water running the hill and out Route 90. Those at higher elevations during the outage saw very low pressure or no water pressure at all,” said Knowlton.

Compounding the matter, he said, was a miscommunication between staff members responsible for responding to alarms when there is an outage or malfunction.

“They both thought the other was going to go in and take care of it, and so the plant time time responding to the problem,” said Knowlton. “The operator response was not what we wanted, and that is being addressed.”

Knowlton added, “It’s not a good event for us, or our customers.”

He said that the generator folks were on scene last week for routine maintenance, but their work didn’t catch the problem so they will be called back to correct the issue.

“Everybody is back online now, and we are bleeding air out of the system so all service is back to normal,” said Knolwton.

Maine Water serves 21 towns, which equates to about 32,000 customers or approximately 80,000 residents, including those in Camden, Rockport and Rockland.

Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or 706-6655.