By Carol Britton Meyer

A new one-million-gallon water tank on Strawberry Hill is expected to be online by fall 2027, according to the Weir River Water System.

**REMEMBER THIS VIEW?** For decades, the water company maintained a storage tank atop Strawberry Hill, but took it out of service in 2008. The Weir River Water System is planning to build an even larger tank on the site. [John Galluzzo file photo]

The final design and permitting for the project is expected to be completed this spring, with minor site and preparation work planned for next fall and winter following the bidding process and awarding of the contract.

Construction will take place from spring 2026 to the summer of 2027, with the system expected to be up and running that fall, the water company’s Citizens Advisory Board was told last week.

During the first year that the Town of Hingham owned the water system, officials immediately began developing a master plan to identify water system needs.

Priority one in the final plan presented in October 2022 was a new water storage tank within the WRWS distribution system – hence the Strawberry Hill project. A full hydraulic analysis, tank siting study, and a master plan for the work were submitted in early 2024.

Double capacity of old tank

The new tank will be about double the capacity of the old Strawberry Hill tank, which was taken down after a 2008 study by the water company determined the 75-year-old structure was no longer needed.

The new tank and pumping station are expected to improve the reliability of service and water quality while ensuring adequate water pressure and flow for Hull customers.

In a recent update to the Weir River Water System Citizens Advisory Board, WRWS Managing Director/Superintendent Russell Tierney discussed the tank project, recent water main breaks, and other news. The water system serves residents of Hingham, Hull, and part of Cohasset.

The CAB consists of Cohasset representative Stephen Girardi; Hingham members Sam Mullen, Chair Steven Weiss, and Charles Culpin; and Hull representatives select board member Brian McCarthy and Director of Wastewater Operations/Assistant Director of Public Works John Struzziery.

About $13 million worth of improvements have been made to the water system and the water treatment facility over the past four years, with changes to the billing system in the works that will provide monthly, rather than quarterly, bills to customers.

While no rate increases are planned for fiscal 2026, an annual capital investment charge of about $65 a year per single-family dwelling will be added to customers’ bills starting July 1 to pay for the final design and construction of the water tank.

In other news…

Tierney said the biggest contributors to the recent water main breaks in Hingham and Hull were a 2.5- to 3-foot depth of frost, four days in a row in December and two stretches in January of four days with temperatures lower than 20 degrees – colder than average temperatures in the past several years.

Tierney provided a chart showing that there were 21 water main breaks in the system in 2020; 28 in 2021; seven in 2022; 20 in 2023; 16 in 2024; and 10 so far this year.

“The frost line and cold weather 100% contributed to the recent water main breaks,” Tierney said, noting that other communities are facing similar challenges.

While the number of main breaks seems higher than usual, Weiss and Tierney noted that this perception may be due to WRWS’s enhanced communications system, which posts water system issues and updates on Facebook, which are immediately accessible to residents in all three towns, whereas that wasn’t the case in the past.

“A lot of people in Hull have received robocalls, so they are working,” McCarthy said.

In response to a question posed by McCarthy, Tierney said he plans to go before the Hull select board this month to provide an update about the water tank and other WRWS business, and that the Town of Hingham has requested a public meeting.

‘Good communication and transparency’

“We want to be sure we provide [our residents] with as much information as possible in the interest of good communication and transparency,” McCarthy said.

FY26 will mark the beginning of the second five years of the contractual agreement with Veolia to operate and maintain the water system.

“Veolia was notified … that as part of the agreement, the town will exercise its right to remove billing and customer service from the contract and move the services to Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant,” Tierney explained. “We have been working with HMLP and will be meeting with their billing vendor to develop and implement a transition plan.”

The goal is to have all customer service operations moved to HMLP by July 2, and WRWS will be working with HMLP and Veolia to achieve this goal.

“In the event there is any delay in the billing transition, we will consider a month-to-month agreement with Veolia to continue producing our bills through their system,” Tierney said.

Reduction in unaccounted for water

He also noted a reduction in unaccounted for water – from 23.9 to 18 percent – and that there are now 84 additional hydrants in the system, with six additional flushing hydrants installed on dead-end mains and 102 inoperable hydrants replaced.

Tierney also reported that PFAS levels in the water system are well under Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection guidelines, that PFAS study proposals are being reviewed and considered, and that the lead and copper levels are well within compliance.

Tierney encouraged customers from all three towns to email WaterQuality@weirriverwater.com to report water-related issues or concerns, and to include their address in the correspondence.

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