Water break affecting water service in Camden, Rockport
A Maine Water employee uses a jackhammer on Union Street, in front of Camden Exxon, to work on a major water main break discovered Sunday morning in front of Camden Exxon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Rockport and Camden Maine Water customers are experiencing varying levels of water pressure Sunday morning due to a water main break in Camden. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
The water main break is suspected in a 10-inch cast iron pipe under Union Street laid in 1887. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
An adjacent storm drain is catching the runoff from the broken water main under Union Street in Camden Sunday morning. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Traffic coming down Belmont toward Union Street is being rerouted the wrong way at the top of Pleasant Street Sunday morning. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Union Street is closed to through traffic at Camden Exxon Sunday morning. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
Repair to the water main under Union Street, in front of Camden Exxon, could take all day to fix. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Water leaking from a broken pipe in Camden, flowing at 3,500 to 4,000 gallons per minute, is pumped out of a hole dug on Union Street by Maine Water crews Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
By 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Maine Water crews had opened a hole on Union Street in Camden in search of the leak. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Working with a jackhammer to break up large chunks of pavement slows pumping and allows water to fill the hole on Union Street. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
A backhoe picks at the pavement, being careful not to disturb fiber optic lines inside the exposed clay pipe near the broken water pipe. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Two pumps are being used to lower the water level inside the hole between diggings of dirt, gravel, rocks and pavement. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
A Maine Water employee uses a jackhammer on Union Street, in front of Camden Exxon, to work on a major water main break discovered Sunday morning in front of Camden Exxon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Rockport and Camden Maine Water customers are experiencing varying levels of water pressure Sunday morning due to a water main break in Camden. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
The water main break is suspected in a 10-inch cast iron pipe under Union Street laid in 1887. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
An adjacent storm drain is catching the runoff from the broken water main under Union Street in Camden Sunday morning. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Traffic coming down Belmont toward Union Street is being rerouted the wrong way at the top of Pleasant Street Sunday morning. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Union Street is closed to through traffic at Camden Exxon Sunday morning. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
(Photo by Chris Wolf)
Repair to the water main under Union Street, in front of Camden Exxon, could take all day to fix. (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Water leaking from a broken pipe in Camden, flowing at 3,500 to 4,000 gallons per minute, is pumped out of a hole dug on Union Street by Maine Water crews Sunday. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
By 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Maine Water crews had opened a hole on Union Street in Camden in search of the leak. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Working with a jackhammer to break up large chunks of pavement slows pumping and allows water to fill the hole on Union Street. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
A backhoe picks at the pavement, being careful not to disturb fiber optic lines inside the exposed clay pipe near the broken water pipe. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Two pumps are being used to lower the water level inside the hole between diggings of dirt, gravel, rocks and pavement. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
CAMDEN — Residents in Camden and Rockport are waking up to varying levels of water pressure Sunday morning, as Maine Water Company, the water utility that provides public water service to many Midcoast communities, is reporting a major water main break.
Crews are at the intersection of Union Street, Belmont Avenue and Pleasant Street, where they are digging through the road in front of Camden Exxon to expose a 10-inch cast iron pipe laid in 1887 that is suspected to be the problem. Union Street is closed to through traffic at Canden Exxon and traffic from Pleasant and Belmont streets is being diverted around the work area.
Water is reportedly flowing out through a leak at 12 gallons per foot, or 3,500-4,000 gallons per minute. Water can be seen flowing across the road, with a lot of it flowing into an adjacent storm drain on Union Street.
Customers on Union Street and directly surrounding the break are without water this morning. The water is still flowing to maintain positive pressure to keep mud from flowing into the pipes. Once crews dig through to the break and assess the problem, water could be shut off to other parts of the service area to allow repair work to continue.
The water main break is affecting Maine Water customers from Commercial Street in Rockport to Mountain Street in Camden.
Workers on scene said it could take all day to fix the problem and they don't know how far down they will have to dig to uncover the actual problem. They estimated it could take a couple of hours of digging with a jackhammer and backhoe to reach it.
Crews had been working to find the issue since around 6 a.m.
Maine Water has not issued any advisories about water quality, just that customers will experience issues with water pressure until the problem is resolved.
Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached by email at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or by calling 207-706-6655.
Event Date
Address
Union Street and Pleasant Street
Camden, ME 04843
United States
