THE CODE RED ALERT
Late Thursday morning Housatonic residents received the above alert, warning them to restrict water use to essential household needs “until further notice,” after the water level in the company’s storage tank fell sharply this week.
The notice asks customers to delay laundry and dishwasher use when possible, keep showers short, shut off faucets when not in use, and stop all outdoor watering and other nonessential use.
Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove has instructed customers to contact Housatonic Water Works. The company can be reached at 413-528-1780, but no one was answering at that number as of 12:10 pm on Thursday afternoon.
About half an hour later Hartsgrove also sent out an alert restating the water use warning.
THE WATER LEVEL PROBLEM
Great Barrington officials also just learned of the latest decline Thursday morning, in a text message from Housatonic Water Works co-owner and treasurer James Mercer.
The company’s water level issues have been ongoing. Several weeks ago the tank had fallen to roughly 30 feet, a drop significant enough that the state Department of Environmental Protection became involved over concerns about pressure.
As of Thursday, according to Gabriel, the water level stands in the low 20s.
Asked whether the drop will affect every Housatonic Water Works customer, who number about 850 and live in Stockbridge and West Stockbridge as well as Housatonic, Gabriel said it would.
How soon?
That’s not yet clear.
“I don’t know when they’re going to start being affected yet,” he said.
Hartsgrove, he said, was seeking information from MassDEP Thursday.
Great Barrington declared a local water emergency on October 14, and the pressure problem worsened almost immediately afterward.
“When we declared the emergency of the town, it was like two days after that, all of a sudden, this pressure issue got way more significant,” Gabriel said.
The earlier drop, he said, prompted Mercer to begin searching the system for leaks, leaks he’s since attributed to customers.
WHAT HWW CUSTOMERS SHOULD DO
Gabriel said residents with questions should contact the Great Barrington Board of Health at (413) 528-1619 (press 2, then 7) or (413) 528-0680, or via their website at: Great Barrington Health Department.
Residents can also sign up for Code Red emergency alerts through the Town of Great Barrington. Notices have not reached every affected household — alerts go only to those who have registered.
SIGN UP FOR CODE RED ALERTS HERE.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Gabriel expects state and local regulators to now take a larger role.
“I think the DEP is going to have to step in more,” he said, “and I think the Board of Health is going to get more involved now at this point too.”
Town officials met yesterday with state Senator Paul Mark and state Representative Leigh Davis about next steps vis a vis the water situation. Gabriel said Mark is now “fully informed” of the situation and is working to secure additional funding, and described him as concerned.
Leigh Davis, for her part said in response to today’s alert that she is “alarmed and monitoring the situation,” and is in touch with the state agencies.
“The good thing is things are moving.”
She said that the DEP had been up to the HWW land a few times looking at the situation recently. “They’re the ones on the ground.”
A leak was addressed a week ago but another appeared soon after.
“There’s a whole team of people on this from various angles and we’re all pulling to rectify this situation as quickly as possible.”
She said she’s trying to find out more info on what’s caused the drop in pressure.
LARGER CONTEXT
Thursday’s notice lands on a system already in acute distress.
Since late last year Housatonic Water Works has been drawing emergency water from the Great Barrington Fire District while addressing filtration problems in its own system. In September, Mercer told the Fire District’s Prudential Committee that the company was on the brink of financial collapse and could pay only $3,000 toward a bill exceeding $116,000. The district set a payment schedule of $10,000 installments, the second of which was paid on Tuesday, November 3, with the third, December payment being increased to reflect increased use of water.
This is a developing story. The Village Green will update it as information becomes available.