The Secret Life of Underground Water Pipes

Michael Buckley was happy to finally get a sewer replacement crew out to do some work on the underground pipes outside his Main Street Eatery, MT's Local.

He was less excited when what should have been a straightforward job got suddenly complicated. The crew unearthed – and struck – an old underground service water line.

"Water was gushing everywhere," Buckley said.

Pennichuck Water was called in to assist the privately hired crew several hours into the job.

"I got the call around lunch time," said Jim Lavacchia, District Manager for Pennichuck Water, who dispatched a crew to the site.

"What they hit was what we call a corporation stop," explained , of the 3/4-inch pipe that likely dated back to the late 1800s. At one time it supplied water to the Church of the Good Shepherd, situated right next door to the downtown restaurant.

According to church history, the building was erected in 1878 which means that's one old pipe.

Even though the line was dead, it still connected into the 24-inch cast iron main water line that runs the length of Main Street.

"What made it tricky is that we weren't able to shut down the main water line to make the repair, due to fire protection issues and service to all the downtown businesses," Lavacchia said.

Buckley said he was getting nervous as the afternoon repair continued.

"I was thinking maybe I wouldn't be able to open for dinner," Buckley said. "But it looks like it's going to be all right."

That was around 4 p.m.

Lavacchia said the crew had to get creative and find a way to make the repair without shutting off the water.

It's not every day you grapple with a 135-year-old water pipe.

"It wasn't pretty, but we did it," Lavacchia said.

The work should be wrapped up sometime Wednesday, Lavacchia said.

Once finished, the job will be reviewed to figure out who will absorb the unanticipated expense, Lavacchia said.

It's not the first time the secret underground of Nashua's Main Street has thrown construction crews for a loop.

During Phase 1 of the city sidewalk replacement effort crews discovered underground vaults built out from the old storefronts. City planners are still working out the logistics and legalities of the underground spaces as the next phase of sidewalk construction is set to begin.