Crews completed repairs to a water main break in Waterbury early Saturday morning, and service is expected to be restored incrementally, officials said.
About 15,000 customers were without water in Waterbury on Friday after a second water main break within a week.
The second break occurred Friday morning, just feet away from the original break that happened Tuesday night on Tompkins Street.
A boil water notice remained in effect Saturday for affected areas, including Bunker Hill, Town Plot and Country Club neighborhoods. Residents were instructed to boil water for one minute before drinking, brushing teeth, cooking and food preparation.
“While we are encouraged that water is once again moving through the system, we ask residents to remain patient as pressure is restored, the system is flushed, and water quality testing continues,” Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said in a statement on Saturday.
The city had been working to restore water sometime over the weekend.
“I know this is an extraordinarily frustrating process, and we are doing everything we can, we’re working as expeditiously as we can,” Pernerewski said at a press conference Friday afternoon.
Even though water main repairs have been completed, the city was handing out bottled water over the weekend at the Municipal Stadium North Parking Lot on Watertown Avenue. The Greater Waterbury YMCA was open to non-members for showers throughout the weekend. The city also planned to open some schools in order for people to use showers.
Pernerewski said Friday that restaurants in the affected areas were not permitted to cook and sell food, even if they boil the water before use.
“Restaurants and food services located in the affected area may not operate during the boil water advisory,” Pernerewski said. “Unlike residences, they can’t boil the water. There’s a separate state code that deals with restaurants.”
Crews had fixed the initial break by early Friday morning and began introducing water back into the system around 1:30 a.m. By 3:15 a.m., about 10 ft. away from the first break, there was another break.
Waterbury experienced a significant water main break on Thomaston Avenue in December.
Pernerewski said the city hadn’t had a previous issue with the Tompkins Street pipe, but it is about the same age as the Thomaston Avenue pipe.
“We’re looking for ways to identify those problem areas and to preemptively try to deal with them,” Pernerewski said. “So we continue to work on that. We should be coming forth with something in short order.”
This story was first published by Connecticut Public July 31, 2026 and updated Aug. 1, 2026.