BWSC

Citizen complaint of the day: What does Boston Water and Sewer have against concrete?

adamg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:35:39 +0000

UPDATE: See the comments for why this is all really the DPW's fault, well, except for the part about doing a half-assed job at leveling off the asphalt to begin with.

Of course, you have to doff your hat to the dedicated men and women of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, who tirelessly toil in the muck and mire 24 hours a day to keep our water and sewage flowing. But why can't they ever put sidewalks back the way they found them? We had a misshapen lump of asphalt instead of a concrete square in front of our house for several years - and when it was finally replaced, it was thanks to the DPW, which was overhauling all the sidewalks on the street.

The photo above comes from W. 5th Street in South Boston, where a resident complains and pleads:

The city dug up this fire hydrant a few months ago and did a terrible job repatching the surrounding sidewalk. I've seen too many women with strollers resort to walking in the road to avoid the hole. Please patch so surface is at least level

Over on Mansfield Street in Allston, another resident posts another photo of a lumpy blob of asphalt where a piece of concrete should be.

Our decaying infrastructure: Burst water main shuts Mass. Ave. near BMC

adamg — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:26:24 +0000

Happened around 3 a.m. between Washington and Harrison, Brian D'Amico reports.

Noah didn't live in Jamaica Plain

adamg — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:37:23 +0000

It's a major mess at Sedgwick and South streets in JP, where a water main burst, flooding the streets and bringing in a flotilla of tow trucks to move cars out of the way.

Another water-main break in Oak Square snarls rush-hour traffic

adamg — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:56:41 +0000

And that includes buses and ambulances, Nathan Spencer reports. He adds this is the second one in two years there.

Exclusive photo of flooding - in Downtown Crossing

adamg — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:40:45 +0000

Yep, another water main went kablooie this morning, right at Washington and Winter streets, Channel 4 reports.

They could call it New Faithful

adamg — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:42:56 +0000

Channel 25 reports on a geyser at Norfolk Avenue and Hampden Street in Roxbury, thanks to a water-main break.

They don't love that dirty water

adamg — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:27:42 +0000

The federal government wants to join a local environmental group's lawsuit against Boston for allegedly failing to keep crap out of rivers feeding into Boston Harbor.

In a motion filed in US District Court in Boston yesterday, the EPA said it agrees with the Conservation Law Foundation's suit that the Boston Water and Sewer Commission has failed to do enough to keep bacteria, oil and dissolved metals and chemicals out of Boston Harbor. The gunk comes from 201 "outfall" pipes that collect road runoff from nearly 20,000 catch basins - and from Brookline - and pours into the Mystic and Charles Rivers, from which they flow into the harbor.

H. Curtis Spalding, regional director of the federal EPA, said in a statement that the suit will help get the BWSC to fulfill its obligation to keep the Harbor clean after all the money spent to keep raw and partially treated sewage out of it.

Water main breaks, road sinks, power goes out in South End

adamg — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:44:36 +0000

Tim Johnson tweets to beware of the area around W. Springfield and Shawmut this morning.

At least one South End resident alerts us that a helicopter has been buzzing the area since 5:30 and that he wishes it would go away already.

It's wet all over, but even more so in Oak Square

adamg — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:14:34 +0000

Where a 12-inch water main under Washington Street up and burst itself this morning, creating a sinkhole and disrupting the commute for Oak Square commuters as the city shut the street and diverted MBTA buses - but without telling any of the repair crews what to tell soggy bus riders where their buses went. The Globe reports the official BWSC response: "It's just one of those sinkholes." La di da.

Water-main break makes a mess of traffic around Ruggles

adamg — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:41:52 +0000

A burst main at Tremont and Ruggles streets this morning meant gushing water and diverted traffic on those streets and Melnea Cass Boulevard.

Watery mess in the South End

adamg — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:30:11 +0000

NotifyBoston alerts us that a water-main break at E. Newton Street and Harrison Avenue will make a mess of things until late afternoon.

Channel 7 has video.

City vows to crack down on kids opening hydrants this summer

adamg — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:58:19 +0000

It was, Councilor Maureen Feeney recalls, complete pandemonium: Last summer, somebody opened five hydrants in the area around Norton and Bowdoin streets and the area became an instant disaster zone: Basements were flooded, backyards washed out, cars damaged and some little kids were sent tumbling down the hill because of the force of the water. Thank God a fire didn't break out in the area at the time, she says.

Never again, Feeney and fellow Dorchester Councilor Charles Yancey vowed today. Although the Boston Water and Sewer Commission is installing supposedly more tamper-proof locks on the hydrants in the area - and buying special wrenches for firefighters to use to open them - the two councilors said at a hearing today they want fines and even possible jail time as cudgels to go after kids who open hydrants during the dog days of summer.

Boston does not have a Water Disaster Department

adamg — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:13:21 +0000

District D-14 is trying to get the word out, after an elderly couple in Allston/Brighton let in a guy wearing a "Water Disaster Department" on March 27. While they were down in the basement "testing" the washing machine, an accomplice went through their house looking for money - and managed to pry open a safe.

D-14 reports another Brighton homeowner was robbed in a similar fashion the same day by three guys who claimed they were from the Water Department and had to check his basement for flooding.

Earlier:
Fake BWSC workers ransacking Hyde Park homes after cutting phone lines.
Fake BWSC scammers at work in Roslindale again.

Fake BWSC workers ransacking Hyde Park homes after cutting phone lines

adamg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:12:24 +0000

District E-18 reports the fake water workers who'd been knocking on doors in Roslindale have moved south, getting themselves invited into homes by claiming to be water workers who need to inspect pipes:

While the resident leads one of the team to the basement, the others in the team will go throughout the residence and ransack bedroom areas of valuables. They even sometimes cut the telephone line so the resident cannot access 911 Emergency.

Police advice: Don't let anybody into your house unless you initiated a service call.

Fake BWSC scammers at work in Roslindale again

adamg — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:24:34 +0000

Boston Police report men pretending to work for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission are cruising the parkways once more, looking for homeowners who will let them inside so they can burglarize their houses.

Police report that around 2 p.m. on Monday, four white guys between 30 and 50 approached a resident of Walworth Street in Roslindale, said they worked for the water department and needed to check the water due to a water-main break. "When the suspects entered the residence they cut the phone lines and removed $1,500 from the home."

About a half hour later, two white guys tried pulling the same stunt nearby on Cornell Street. "The residents asked for identification, which the suspects would not provide, so the owners asked them to leave their property."

Last year:
Bogus BWSC workers on the prowl in Roslindale.