JAY – Two water main breaks on Main Street two days in a row caused havoc with drinking water supplies.

A 310,000-gallon holding tank on Woodchuck Hill, a tank owned by the Livermore Falls Water District, had just 10,000 gallons due to Monday’s leak, Livermore Falls Superintendent Doug Burdo said.

The district supplies water to Jay Village Water District, where the break occurred.

The main broke Sunday and again Monday not far from the first break that had been repaired.

The second break caused water to be temporarily shut off to Jay Village customers from near the Jay Middle School to the top of Jay Hill, District Superintendent Richard Jackson said Monday. The water was expected to be turned back on Monday afternoon.

The Jay Elementary School was closed for the day due to the lack of water, school Superintendent Robert Wall said.

An initial fracture of the water main occurred Sunday. About 25 customers had no water between noon and 11 p.m., Jackson said. About 10 feet of main was removed and replaced, he said.

About 6:30 a.m. Monday, another break was discovered ahead of the repaired fracture in the same main, he said.

The cement, asbestos Transite pipe is aging, Jackson said. The district is replacing lines as it can, he said. They just finished a major project on Jay Hill, he said.

The piece of line that was installed Sunday was to be extracted Monday and a full length of cement-lined pipe was to be put in, he said.

Jay’s line broke between 3 and 3:30 a.m. Monday and wasn’t discovered until about 6 a.m., Burdo said. It drained a Livermore Falls Water District’s of all but 4 feet of water, Superintendent Doug Burdo said.

By 11:45 a.m. there was 19 feet of water in the tank, with 21 feet left before the 310,000-gallon tank would be considered full, Burdo said. The water was coming from the district’s system in Moose Hill Pond in Livermore Falls.

Some other Jay residents who are served by the Livermore Falls Water District also were affected with low water pressure, he said.

dperry@sunjournal.com