Framingham neighborhood loses water twice in a week due to frozen pipes: "Haven't had a year like this in a long time"

A neighborhood in Framingham lost water for the second time in a week after a major water main broke on Thursday. It happened on one of the city's busiest streets, Salem End Road. 

"We haven't had a year like this in a long time, but we haven't had the cold temperatures we're getting this year. That's the driving factor," said Framingham's deputy water director Alex MacKenzie. 

Residents like Doug Lawrence have been showering at nearby gyms. He said it feels like déjà vu after the same thing happened Monday.

"Water's one of those basics in life when you don't have water. You notice right away," Lawrence said. "We've got a number of households that are out of water for the second time this week. So we're running around buying water."

Crews arrived at the site quickly after the break, but the cleanup was expected to take hours. The street was covered in salt and mud to prevent it from freezing. But residents should expect extra traffic in the area for the rest of the day.

"I'd say we'll be well into the night on this one by the time we get done paving," MacKenzie said. 

"They're doing the best that they can and we have to take care of our infrastructure," Lawrence said.

MacKenzie said that this is the 21st water main break they've had in Framingham this year. He explained that the freezing temperatures are posing a huge challenge for the city's old infrastructure. 

"We've been finding about 3 and a half feet of frost [on the pipes]," MacKenzie explained. "So you got all the pressure coming out of the pipe real quick, it's gonna do a lot of damage."