2010 Boston water emergency
The 2010 Boston Water Emergency occurred on May 1, 2010, when a water pipe in Weston, Massachusetts, broke and began flooding into the Charles River. This led to unsanitary water conditions in the greater Boston area, which resulted in Governor Deval Patrick declaring a state of emergency and an order for residents to boil drinking water. The leak was stopped on May 2. On May 4, the order was lifted. President Barack Obama signed an emergency disaster declaration offering federal help, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts with Massachusetts.
MWRA executive director Frederick Laskey called the break "catastrophic" and "everyone's worst nightmare in the water industry".
At about 10am on May 1, a collar connecting two sections of 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) pipe ruptured in Weston, Massachusetts, disrupting the connection between the MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel and the City Tunnel.
With the water supply cut off, the emergency water supply reserve system from surrounding ponds was routed to the main water supply.
The rupture worsened as the afternoon progressed, eventually resulting in the loss of access to clean water from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs for approximately two million residents of 31 cities and towns, including Boston. At the height of the spill, approximately 8 million US gallons (30,000 m3) of water entered the Charles River per hour. By evening, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority had activated the backup water system, which was drawing water from the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, and Spot Pond Reservoir. The Sudbury Aqueduct supplied additional water to the Chestnut Hill reservoir from the Sudbury Reservoir and the Framingham #3 reservoir. Because water from these older surface reservoirs are not treated, the MWRA issued a boil order for the affected communities.
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