Hampden water main break third in 10 days

HAMPDEN – An early morning water main break along Main Road North on Thursday was the third in 10 days.

The water district lost nearly 2 million gallons of water between the three breaks, said Cameron Torrey, Hampden Water District’s general manager. The loss of water, which the district purchases from Bangor, could calculate to “quite a few hundred dollars,” he said.

Thursday’s break, located between Sunset Avenue and the Cold Brook Road along Main Road North, was detected at 5 a.m., Torrey said. Crews worked from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to repair the 8-inch pipe, he said. During that time, Main Road North was limited to one-way traffic.

The two other significant water main breaks occurred on Feb. 8, on Cottage Street, and Feb. 5 also along Main Road North near R&K Variety, Torrey said.

The district’s infrastructure is old, and the pipes in that area of town date back to 1937, he said.