Aquarion Water Company

Water Restrictions Due to Drought Ease a Bit for Darien, Nearby Towns

Aquarion: Please Don’t Water Lawns Thru Sunday — We Need to Conserve Water

It’s Utility Project Summer for Darien as Gas, Water Projects Dig up Streets

Water Mains Expected to be Replaced on Parts of Noroton, Mansfield Avenues, Upper Middlesex Road

Water Main Break on Noroton Avenue Thursday Morning [Updated]

Water Main Break on Mansfield Avenue Near Mansfield Place

Aquarion Water Co. Tests May Discolor Water on Various Town Streets

Aquarion Announces Water-Flow Testing in Some Darien Neighborhoods

UPDATE: Water Main Break on Mansfield Fixed; Ox Ridge School Reopens Tuesday

Aquarion Water Utility: Please Keep Conserving Water, Reservoirs Still Low

Aquarion Water Co. Asks Customers to Conserve Water

UPDATE: Aquarion Working on ‘Earthy’ Taste, Smell in Darien Water

Water Main Break to Close Darien YMCA at 9:30 PM Wednesday, Repairs Overnight

When Someone Claiming to be from Aquarion Water Co. Knocks on Your Door

Summer Picnic Series | End of Summer Family-Friendly Celebration at Grace Farms

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Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | June 15, 2015

Name: Summer Picnic Series | End of Summer Family-Friendly Celebration at Grace Farms
Start: 2022-08-19T17:30:00-04:00
End: 2022-08-19T19:30:00-04:00
Location: Grace Farms

As a result of a new request by the Aquarion Water Company, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has issued a second water supply emergency order in Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan and Stamford. ___________
— an announcement from Aquarion Water Co. ___________
This is in accordance with Connecticut General Statute 25-32b allowing DPH to make this declaration. This new order helps increase the likelihood of refilling the Greenwich and Stamford reservoir systems. As of Feb. 17, the Greenwich system was approximately 68 percent full, while the Stamford system measured 61 percent full.

Anton Croos Water Sprinkler Wikimedia Commons 8-18-16

Aquarion Water Company, working in cooperation with town and city officials in Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan and Darien, is encouraging its customers to conserve water by not watering lawns through this Sunday, Aug. 21, due to the recent rain. Customers are also urged to limit lawn irrigation to a maximum of twice a week (any two days) for the remainder of the season. This applies to irrigation systems, hose-end sprinklers, and soaker hoses, while use of a hand-held hoses for watering is acceptable at any time. Aquarion will be reminding customers about water conservation with automated phone calls as well. “We are asking our customers in Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan and Darien to continue to conserve water and reduce non-essential outdoor water use,” said Charles V. Firlotte, Aquarion President and CEO.

Eversource is replacing gas service lines beneath 5,000 feet of Darien streets this summer as Aquarion replaces about as many feet of water main lines under other town roads, according to separate announcements Wednesday.

Two of the projects start around June 20, according to the announcements. A third project, replacing a water line, starts soon after July 4. Natural Gas

For the gas lines, in a project which is completely separate from the planned extension of natural gas lines in town, West Avenue will see construction crews from the Stamford Border to Moore Street, on Moore Street itself as well as on Holmes Avenue, Robinson, Brown, Catherine, Hazel, and Kelsey Streets. Other streets where pipes will be replaced: Holmes Avenue, Robinson, Brown, Catherine, Hazel, Kelsey and Moore streets. Work is expected to end by September.

Aquarion Water Company is planning to replace just over a mile of water main pipes under stretches of Noroton Avenue, Mansfield Avenue and Middlesex Road this summer. Work was tentatively scheduled to start on June 20 on both the Noroton Avenue and Mansfield Avenue/Middlesex Road areas, Daniel Lawrence, Aquarion’s director of engineering and planning, told the Board of Selectmen at the board’s regular meeting last Monday. “We’ll do our very best to finish up before school begins” this fall, Lawrence said. Darien’s water either comes from reservoirs in Stamford or down a regional pipeline from elsewhere in Fairfield County, Aquarion officials told the board. Aquarion’s regional pipeline takes water from a point on Hemlock Reservoir at the northern end of the town of Fairfield (two other nearby bodies of water, the Saugatuck and Aspetuck reservoirs, feed into the Hemlock).

Update 3:50 p.m.:

The water main appears to have been fixed. Aquarion no longer has the notice about it on its website. Update, 1:42 p.m.:

The water main has not yet been fixed, according to Aquarion Water Co., which at 1:18 p.m. updated its original announcement without changing it. Original article, 11:19 a.m.:

A 12-inch-diameter water main pipe near 283 Noroton Ave. was reported ruptured at 8:38 a.m. Thursday, according to Aquarion Water Co., and is expected to be repaired between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.

About 25 water customers on Noroton Avenue, Bouton Lane and Pine Street were affected by the pipe rupture. Water pipes are more frequent in either severely cold weather or when the weather goes from below freezing to warmer temperatures, according to Aquarion.

A water main has broken on Mansfield Avenue, causing police to block the road near its intersection with Mansfield Place and detour traffic. Police announced the detour at 5:25 p.m. in a tweet on Twitter. The water main is under repair, but that and icy conditions caused the detour, police said. The intersection of Mansfield Avenue and Mansfield Place is about a third of a mile north of Royle School and two-thirds of a mile south of the entrance to Country Club of Darien. On Jan.

Aquarion Water Co. announced Friday that water on various streets in town (see list, below) may discolor water and create low water pressure for short periods this coming Tuesday through Friday. Here’s the announcement:

Aquarion will be performing fire flow tests between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16 thru Friday, Feb. 19, weather permitting.

At pretty much the last minute (4:37 p.m., Monday), Aquarion Water Co. announced (only on its website, or perhaps in some kind of communication with residents?) that “fire flow tests” would be performed this week on water mains along Tokeneke Road and other nearby streets. Among the roads where the water mains are being tested: Old Kings Highway (the announcement doesn’t specify whether north or south), Driftway Lane, Tokeneke Trail, Hope Drive, Delafield Island Road, Five Mile River Road, Renshaw Road (where Town Hall is located), Goodwives River Road, Sunswyck Road and from 1302 to 1416 Post Road (approximately). The tests started Tuesday, last about an hour and take place any time between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. They’re expected to end on Friday. While the test is going on, Aquarion advises, “you may experience low water pressure or mild discoloration of the water. Any residual discoloration will be addressed quickly.”

Update 6:27 a.m., Tuesday

Ox Ridge elementary school students, who are going back to school Tuesday morning, didn’t even get a whole extra day off from Mondays water main break on Mansfield Avenue — they’ll have to make it up with a half day on March 28, the school district announced. Here’s the announcement from Darien Public Schools:

We are pleased to report that the water main has been fixed on Mansfield Avenue and that school will resume at Ox Ridge tomorrow on a regular schedule. Connecticut school law requires that students attend classes for 180 days. As a result of Ox Ridge students missing today, they are at 179 class days requiring them to make up one day of instruction. March 28 which was originally a professional development day for teachers will now be a half day of instruction for the students at Ox Ridge. Students will be picked up at their normal times and be released at 11:45 a.m. on March 28.

A drought continues across Connecticut, but water demand remains higher than average, Aquarion Water Co. says as it urges residents to conserve more. One way of doing so is turning off sprinkler and irrigation systems — one of the suggestions in a news release from the company (republished below). In Darien Town Hall, the water company has a free “water conservation kit” (see attached picture) that includes a small “low-flow aerator” device you can screw onto a faucet. “A faucet aerator is one of the most effective water saving devices you can use in your home,” according to a brochure in the conservation kit.

Aquarion Water Company is asking customers to conserve water since rainfall has been scarce recently and reservoirs and wells are getting low. Here’s the announcement (on the Darien town government website) from Aquarion:

With a lack of significant rainfall, and as a result of the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s advisory for voluntary water conservation, Aquarion Water Company is asking its customers to voluntarily conserve water and stop nonessential outdoor water use. Connecticut is currently experiencing conditions ranging from “abnormally dry” to “moderate drought” due to an extended dry spell, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). With below average rainfall and water demand 9.3% higher this season compared to the same period last year, and using over 9 million gallons more per day, Aquarion’s reservoirs and wells are below normal capacity “Due to current conditions, Aquarion is advising customers to voluntarily reduce their water use,” said Charles V. Firlotte, Aquarion President and CEO. “It is important for all of our customers to assist in this effort, to ensure everyone in our entire at-large community has the water they need, when they need it.”

Aquarion recommends ways to use water more efficiently, while helping conservation efforts:

Consider shutting off irrigations systems for the season or reduce irrigation to twice a week.

Update 4:58 p.m.:

The water utility serving Darien, Stamford and much of the surrounding area will be testing water samples on Wednesday to try to gauge whether the “musty” taste and odor in some of the water is increasing or decreasing, a spokesman said. Customers in the southern portion of Darien as well as in parts of Stamford experienced the “musty” taste and odor of tap water in the past two weeks, from the North Stamford Reservoir that provides water to those two areas, said Peter Fazekas, a spokesman for Aquarion Water Co. (The northern part of Darien gets its water from a different source in Bridgeport, he said. Areas of Greenwich that experienced a similar problem get their water from the Mianus Reservoir, and the situation has vastly improved there, “to the point where it’s almost not an issue,” Fazekas said.)

Update, 3:34 p.m.:

The “unpleasant taste and odor” in some Darien and Stamford tap water is caused by a problem in a Stamford reservoir, said Peter Fazekas, a spokesman for Aquarion Water Co. The water utility, which has an announcement on its website about the problem, says customers experiencing an “earthy” or “musty” taste and smell in the water shouldn’t be alarmed for health reasons — the water is perfectly safe — and treatment of the water in the reservoir has started.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brass_water_tap.jpg

A six-inch water main has disrupted service in the neighborhood of Darien YMCA, the organization says, and it has announced that overnight repairs will require the Y to close down at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Aquarion Water Co. says the water main is in the vicinity of Seagate Road, which is just to the east of the YMCA. In a 2:07 p.m. announcement, the utility said about 20 customers were affected and repairs were expected to be complete by 5 to 7 p.m.

But the more recent YMCA announcement on Facebook, shortly after 5 p.m., has a much later timeframe. Here’s what the YMCA said:
Due to a water main break in the neighborhood, the water will need to be shut off at 9:30 PM this evening.

To prevent becoming the victim of a crime when a person claiming to be from the water company comes calling (as happened on Thursday), Aquarion Water Co. has some advice for customers. Here’s what a news release (PDF here) issued by the utility on May 29 said:

Aquarion Water Company is reminding customers to take precautions before allowing anyone into their home or business for maintenance, especially when no appointment has been scheduled. Aquarion advises that residents refuse entrance into their home without first seeing photo identification. “Aquarion Water Company employees follow strict protocols when entering customers’ homes and businesses, which include showing the customer an Aquarion photo ID,” said Charles V. Firlotte, Aquarion President and CEO. “We also encourage any customer who is unsure or has concerns to call our Customer Service Department.”

Aquarion Water Company employees and contractors are required to carry company-issued photo identification at all times and to present such identification upon request when entering a customer’s home.

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