Yesterday at about noon a major water main in Worcester burst, flooding a building at Worcester State University and forcing the city to shut of its entire water supply overnight to make repairs. Imagine waking up and not having a ready supply of clean, safe water – no shower, no flushing the toilet, no coffee maker. Whether it’s Worcester, Lowell or any place else, delivering water to residents is an essential function of government because clean water is essential to our lives.

The Worcester Telegram has the full story of the crisis while the city of Worcester’s Twitter feed provides an almost hour-by-hour commentary on the situation. I’ve copied and pasted the Tweets below. The times indicated (i.e., 40m for 40 minutes or 8h for 8 hours) are how long before 7am today the Tweet was made. Read from the bottom up for the proper chronological order:

40m Worcester MA ‏@TweetWorcester
Avoid doing laundry for the next few days while the system fully recovers and discolored water dissipates. #Worcester

41m Worcester MA ‏@TweetWorcester
Once water is restored, please be sure to let faucets run until clear. There is a boil water order in effect until further notice #Worcester

1h Worcester MA ‏@TweetWorcester
Water main break repaired. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, water expected by 8 a.m. @WorcesterDPW.

8h Steven H. Foskett Jr ‏@SteveFoskettTG
City Dept. of Inspect. Serv. reaching out to all food service ops in am to review precaut. measures for food prep. once water comes back. Retweeted by Worcester MA

8h Worcester MA ‏@TweetWorcester
@DEP issues Boil Water Order for #Worcester http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/drinking/boilordr.htm …

9h Worcester MA ‏@TweetWorcester
Two Hour Delay for @WorcesterPublic Schools Tomorrow, November 13.

10h Worcester MA ‏@TweetWorcester
Crews anticipate that water will be turned on by morning. No decision on school closures or delays. pic.twitter.com/oo3m3Ez1

13h Worcester MA ‏@TweetWorcester
Water Main Break Will Impact Entire City. No water, rusty water or low pressure throughout City @WorcesterDPW.