The extended period of extremely cold weather is believed to have caused several water main breaks in town, the most recent one occurring this week on Church Hill Road, just east of its intersection with Wendover Road.

Police received a report on that water leakage about 7 am on Wednesday, February, 25.

Peter Fazekas, spokesman for Aquarion Water Company, said that frost has penetrated the ground to a depth of 42 inches, reflecting frigid subterranean conditions which can result in buried water lines failing.

The Church Hill Road water main that ruptured was a six-inch-diameter line. Ten water company customers were temporarily without water due to the problem, Mr Fazekas said.

Construction crews promptly responded to the area to excavate and to repair the broken water system. While repairs were underway, police closed westbound Church Hill Road in that area to through-traffic.

That water line break occurred about six feet away from a water leak that occurred late on the afternoon of February 20 due to a failed valve, Mr Fazekas said.

On February 21, repair crews worked at the site from 11:30 am to 11 pm to fix that problem. About 60 water company customers experienced a temporary water outage due to that problem. Area traffic was detoured, as needed, during that repair project, which involved replacing a valve.

Buried water lines are installed well below the frost line to avoid weather-related failures during could periods, but the intense cold of recent weeks is thought to have physically stressed the water lines, leading to the pipe failures.

When water lines break in the wintertime, work crews are promptly dispatched for repairs to limit the secondary road icing problems that occur during subfreezing conditions.

Also, on February 21, work crews made repairs to a failed water line on Queen Street for which there were no water service outages.

On February 17, a water line break occurred on Pine Tree Hill Road, requiring repairs. Thirty-five customers in that area temporarily lost water service.