Water service was restored after 30k+ were bought

It was the second time in a year that a failed pipe led to water disruption.

Water service for about 2,900 Connecticut inmates was lost overnight Sunday into Monday morning, and the Department of Correction ended up ordering more than 30,000 bottles of water and renting more than 30 portable toilets.

The outage affected the Robinson, Osborn and Cybulski correctional facilities, all part of the massive prison campus straddling the Enfield-Somers line only a mile south of Massachusetts.

Prison officials said a water pipe broke Sunday evening, curtailing service to all three buildings. Repairs were made early Monday morning, the department said.

After water-quality testing during the day Monday showed no contamination, tap water has been approved again for use by staff and inmates, a department spokesman said Tuesday.

Last August, officials blamed a broken line for suspending water service for more than half a day. At the time, some inmates and their families complained about unsanitary conditions during the outage. Inmate advocates said access to alternate toilets were severely inadequate.

“These issues are recurring and I think it’s time to find a real fix like shutting down facilities which no longer safely house incarcerated people,” an advocate told the Courant about this week’s issue.

In the situation Sunday night and Monday morning, the prison staff moved quickly to provide alternate water sources and portable toilets, said DeVaughn Ward, the state’s correction ombudsman.

“In an emergency situation like that, it’s tough because you have security and safety issues and health and sanitary issues,” Ward said.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, Ward had not heard from inmates or relatives with complaints about conditions. He plans to tour Osborn on Wednesday to hear directly from some of the approximately 1,220 men incarcerated there.

The Cybulski and Robinson facilities are essentially dorm-style, where inmates can move around in communal areas, Ward said. Osborn is a traditional prison with locked cells, so shuttling prisoners individually to portable toilets is a harder logistical challenge that requires more staff and time, he said.

“Right now I have to credit the department for responding quickly,” he said. “There was some concern Sunday night about having water to cooking breakfast Monday, but they had water brought in quickly.”

Water pressure began falling at the complex Sunday evening before stopping altogether.

“Shortly after the outage was discovered, bottle water and portable toilets were delivered to the three facilities,” the correction department said in a statement. “DOC maintenance staff members worked throughout the day until the repairs to the water line were completed in the early hours of Monday morning.”

Water tests were conducted on Monday throughout all three facilities to be certain the water was safe. By early Monday, the roughly 1,600-inmate Carl Robinson Correctional Institution had about 7,700 bottles of water delivered along with 13 portable toilets, according to the state.

The Osborn Correctional Institution got about 7,700 bottles of water and nine portable toilets, and the roughly 620-inmate Cybulski Correctional Institution received about 5,800 bottles and 10 portable toilets.

Several years ago, Osborn inmates filed a federal lawsuit claiming persistent contamination of drinking water at the prison. Most elements of the suit were dismissed two years ago.

The prison, among Connecticut’s oldest, also had two report cases of Legionnaire’s Disease in 2021.