MWRA grants Wayland six-month emergency water permit amid E. coli shutdown

WAYLAND — August 20, 2024 — MWRA approves six-month emergency withdrawal permit for Wayland after E. coli shutdown. The MWRA board voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to let Wayland keep drawing MWRA water through Jan. 25 while the town repairs its Chamberlain wellfield, which was taken offline July 24 after raw-water samples tested positive for E. coli; finished water has tested clean throughout, DPW Director Tom Holder told the Board of Public Works that evening. Holder said the town is paying roughly $1,400 a day at 110 percent of the MWRA prevailing rate — about $73,000 to $80,000 over a projected 52-day run — and that the enterprise fund will absorb the hit. State inspectors identified a gap between a pump mount and its pad as the likely contamination point. Separately, the board voted 4-1 to abate a water bill at a vacant 476 Old Connecticut Path home where a February pipe burst leaked 54,400 cubic feet; Chair George Uveges dissented, saying "water is not free despite what people may think."