A water main burst Sunday morning near a Waterville strip mall, spilling thousands of gallons of water.
Kennebec Water District General Manager Roger Crouse said a 12-inch water main broke at The Concourse between Spring and Main streets about 7 a.m. The water main was isolated and shut off within 45 minutes, and his crews cut and replaced the pipe where the break happened.
Power was shut off, closing businesses in the strip mall area, including the Goodwill store.
The Waterville Fire Department said Goodwill’s basement was flooded.
Most of the water ended between the back of the building and a retaining wall 30 feet to 40 feet away, Crouse said.
Water was four feet deep in that area, the fire department said.
Water service returned late Sunday afternoon, Crouse said.
The water main was installed in 1966 and failed “catastrophically,” Crouse said.
There has not been a water main break at The Concourse, and there are older pipes in the Waterville system, he said.
The exact amount of water leaked in the break is unknown, but Crouse estimated it was hundreds of thousands of gallons.
It’s unclear what caused the water main to break.
Crouse credited his crews with responding quickly and addressing the problem.