It is time for people to obey the water ban, since if yesterday’s three times normal water usage does not come down, all outdoor watering will have to be banned.

The following postcard will appear at your home:

        EMERGENCY  WATER  BAN

The Town of Medfield has received notice from the Massachusetts Dept. of
Environmental Protection (MA DEP) to increase the level of outdoor watering
restrictions due to increasing drought conditions.  Therefore, the Town of Medfield
is declaring a mandatory one day a week outdoor watering program.  Houses with
odd numbers may perform outdoor watering on Monday evenings and houses with
even numbers may perform outdoor watering on Thursday evenings.  THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO OUTSIDE WATERING ALLOWED BETWEEN THE
HOURS OF 9 A.M. AND 5 P.M.  Daily handheld watering of vegetable gardens
and flowers is permitted except between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.   You will be
fined for non-compliance of this restriction.  If everyone does not comply with this
ban, the level of restriction may be raised to a complete outside watering ban. If you
have further questions, please contact the Medfield Water Dept.  at 508-906-3004.

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Mike Sullivan reported to the Board of Selectmen and the Warrant Committee chair this afternoon both that a system for issuing citations and fines has been established, and that –

For you information, David O’Toole told me that we used 2,900,000 gallons of water yesterday, During a normal winter day, we would pump about 900,000 to 1,000,000 gallons a day. The pumps are running 18 to 21 hours a day trying to keep up with the demand. He had to shut down the filling of the new water tower because the water level in the Mount Nebo tower was dropping.

NB –

Those who violate the water ban will be fined.  Citations are to be issued by both the Medfield Police Department and Medfield DPW personnel.

Mike Sullivan was queried and shared more details on the issues arising out of the leak at the new water tower –

I believe the tank holds about 1.3 million gallons. They did not have to completely empty it to make the repair so I would assume it was somewhere around 1 million gallons that were emptied from the tank. Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors, the general contractor will pay $5128.20 for the water. In addition, they will be charged delay damages for not completing the project by the scheduled date in the construction contract. The negotiations on the amount of delay damages will take place after the tank is completed and put into service.The water could not be put back into the system because the new tank was still being inspected prior to being put on line. As part of the repair a shut-off valve has been installed so that if another leak develops it will not have to be drained to make repairs. For some reason, this shut off valve was not included as part of the original design. The repairs have been completed, but it will take several days to fill the tank and then it will have to be disinfected and inspected prior to being put back online. Mike Sullivan