(What you won’t hear at the 9 AM press conference)
By D.M.Livingston|Published Dec 11, 2025 8:50AM
Last Updated Dec 16 2025 8:13AM
Instead of freezing outside at a press conference where we will hear the same old song…here is a different beat to step too this morning!
Waterbury Health Director Clarifies Restaurant Operations During Water Main Crisis
Before the city steps to the podium this morning, here’s what residents actually need to know about why these breaks keep happening.
Not that we told you so but…
1️⃣ Our pipes were installed between roughly between 1890 and 1920 estimation
Waterbury’s oldest neighborhoods are sitting on 100–135-year-old cast-iron water mains.
These pipes were laid when:
- Cars didn’t exist
- The population was half its size
- Homes used a fraction of today’s water pressure
- Lead was still used to seal pipe joints
These pipes were never designed to survive a century.
2️⃣ Cast-iron gets brittle with age
After about 70–100 years, cast iron becomes:
- Thin
- Fragile
- Corroded
- Prone to cracking from vibration, cold weather, and pressure changes
Once a system hits this age?
Breaks don’t happen once a year—they become a chain reaction.
Waterbury Breaking News- Major Water Main Break Disrupts Service;City Working Around the Clock to Restore Water Supply
3️⃣ When one pipe pops, the pressure spike breaks another
This is the part they never explain.
When a 100-year-old main bursts, the sudden pressure change can:
- Stress nearby pipes
- Loosen old joints
- Cause new fractures hours or days later
That’s why you get multiple breaks in the same area of the city.
4️⃣ Emergency repairs cost MORE than replacing the pipes
A scheduled $1 million replacement project can quickly turn into:
- $3–4 million per year in repeated emergency breaks
- Road closures
- Overtime
- Traffic disruption
- Water loss
- School impacts
This is why residents feel like things are “getting worse.”
Because they are.
5️⃣ Waterbury needs a 20–30 year replacement plan—NOT press conferences
Most cities replace 1–2% of their pipes every year.
If Waterbury replaces less than that, the system will continue to fail.
A real plan requires:
- Mapping pipe age
- Prioritizing the oldest cast-iron mains
- Using federal/state infrastructure funds
- Replacing problem corridors, not patching them forever
Bottom Line
Waterbury’s water mains are as old as the city’s factory era, and they’re aging out—fast.
Today’s press conference will talk about repairs.
But the real question for the city is:
🔹 What’s the long-term plan?
🔹 How many miles of pre-1920 pipe remain underground?
🔹 What’s the annual replacement rate?
🔹 How many breaks BEFORE the city fixes the root cause?
The public deserves more than updates—we need transparency and a real strategy.
Stay linked to the Waterbury Times and
The Waterbury Times
We are still waiting on those water test results
The Waterbury Times- Waterbury,CT Local News 
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