Water main break shuts down Off the Trail Café for days, discolors local water

FALLS VILLAGE – A broken water main caused Off the Trail Café to close early Tuesday, May 26, and remain shuttered through Friday morning, while some residents reported discolored water at their homes and were advised to boil it as a precaution.

According to a notice issued by Aquarion Water Company on Tuesday, residents and businesses between 33 and 84 Railroad St., 100 and 107 Main St,, and 35 Water St. and 12 Warren Turnpike, were advised to boil potentially contaminated water before drinking while repairs were underway.

The coffee shop and eatery remained closed until Friday morning, and residents continued to report murky water on social media before repairs to the water main were made later in the week. The eatery and coffee shop reopened Friday at 8 a.m.

An Off the Trail Cafe staff member said she noticed a loss of water pressure on Tuesday morning and contacted the owners, who decided to close the business out of an abundance of caution. Owner Liz Ives said she also notified the state Department of Public Health as an additional safety measure.

While acknowledging that emergencies happen, Ives said she was not provided with advance notice that service might be disrupted and estimated the closure cost the business between $400 and $500 in lost revenue.

On Wednesday morning, several residents in the Beebe Hill Road area reported discolored water in a post to the Falls Village Facebook Forum page, including one resident who posted an image of a bathtub filled with brownish water.

Falls Village First Selectman David Barger said Aquarion has been investigating a number of leaks within the system near the center of town, including one believed to be affecting the area around the post office.

“It’s coming down from somewhere on Beebe Hill and they’ve been working in the area to identify the leaks,” Barger said. He said he did not know if the water main break was related to this ongoing work.

According to an alert on Aquarion’s website, the break was repaired by 4:15 a.m. Wednesday. Customers experiencing discolored water were advised to run cold water until it poured clear.

Barger applauded Aquarion for working through the night to fix the problem, while acknowledging the challenges it created for businesses and residents.

“When you’re a business and all of a sudden there’s no water, that affects you negatively,” he said. However, Barger added that Aquarian is typically “very good about notifying customers” and providing a window of time when service may be disrupted.

“It’s just one of those things,” he said. “When you have an emergency, you have an emergency.”