Waterbury Water Supply Is Filthy, City Warns Thieves

I woke up this past Saturday morning, and it was a beautiful day in the Town Plot section of Waterbury. Summertime heat had finally appeared, it was a holiday weekend, and, then, I turned the faucet on. Brown, discolored water filled up my sink. I thought to myself, "It's the end of May, hydrants were flushed weeks ago".

Weird. I didn't stop Mrs. Large from filling up our Brita water pitcher in time, and the water that went through the filter had the same brown tint.

Turns out, the culprits behind my brown tap water were filthy thieves. According to a statement issued by the City of Waterbury, pool water haulers may have been tapping into city fire hydrants and stealing thousands of gallons of city water.

Fire hydrants aren't opened very often, and when they are, huge volumes of water rush out of the area, draining the resource. In the process, fine sediment gets brought into the main water supply.

The end result is that I have brown water because of some dregs of society that didn't want to pay the two hundred bucks it costs to fill up at a legit water supply. Waterbury Water Department officials are asking you to keep an eye out at the city fire hydrants, and if you see someone tapping into them, alert them to the theft. Weekdays, call 203-574-8251, and select option 2, then 3 for dispatch. After business hours and weekends, call 203-574-8251 and leave a message with the answering service.