Who owns the problem: town system or your pipe
Middleborough's open space plan says town water and sewer serve the center of town and some spurs off it, and most of the town is on private septic and wells. Before anyone starts digging, it helps to know whose pipe is leaking.
| The problem | Whose system | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Water bubbling up in the street | The Water Department's main | Tell you to call the town, and help with your own shutoff |
| Low pressure in one house only | Your service line or house plumbing | Test pressure and trace the leak |
| Sewage in the cellar | Your lateral, or the town sewer if you are on it | Camera the line and find the blockage |
| Backup on a septic street | Your tank, box or leach field | Clear the house line and check the tank outlet |
| No water on a well street | Your pump, tank or switch | Test the pressure switch and the tank |
Town water in the center, wells beyond it
The Middleborough Water Department draws only on groundwater, and its page says the system has about 130 miles of main and 800 hydrants. Public supply began in 1885, and the department notes that its infrastructure varies in age. Older mains and older service lines are where leaks tend to start.
The water is pH-adjusted with potassium hydroxide, and the department's page lists notices on PFAS and manganese. Check that page for the current status on your street. Emergency dispatch is available around the clock, so a leak that shows up on a Sunday does not have to wait.
Water in the cellar or none at the tap?
Call the 24/7 line with your street and what failed. A dispatcher books the next open licensed plumber.
Before we arrive: if you have a burst pipe or active leak
The steps depend on if the house is on town water or a well. Do the ones that fit your house.
Shut the main valve
On town water, close the main where the line enters the house, often near the meter. On a well, close it near the pressure tank. Open a low faucet afterward to drain the line.
Cut power to wet areas
On a well, switch off the pump breaker. For any wet room, switch off its circuit at the panel only when the floor around the panel is dry.
Clear the area
Move people, pets and valuables away from standing water. Keep out of a flooded cellar if the furnace or panel is down there.
Call the 24/7 line
Tell the dispatcher your street, the nearest cross street and whether the house has town sewer or septic.
Sewer center, septic everywhere else
A 2015 hazard plan put about 31 percent of residents on public sewer, and the town runs its own wastewater treatment plant. If your street is sewered, a blockage can be in your lateral or in the town main, and the first job is working out which.
A camera head on a push cable shows the pipe, and a sewer camera inspection often settles the question. Roots and grease are common causes, and drain cleaning with a drum cable opens most of them. If the pipe is cracked or offset, sewer line repair follows the camera findings.
Older houses around the center
Surviving houses go back to the 1750s, and the center has Gothic Revival cottages from the 1860s and Queen Anne and Colonial Revival homes from the 1890s on. The state survey and the town's walking guide list many South Main Street houses built between the 1770s and the early 1900s.
A house that old has often been replumbed in pieces. You may find copper, galvanized steel and plastic on one run, and the joints between them are where leaks and low pressure turn up. If it has several pipe types, a plumber can propose a staged repiping plan.
Permits, step by step
The Building Department at 20 Center Street handles plumbing and gas permits, and the town runs online permitting. Here is how a heater swap or remodel goes.
- 1
Hire a licensed plumber
Work must be done by a Massachusetts-licensed plumber or gas fitter.
- 2
File before work starts
The town's fee schedule says starting without a permit raises the fee, so the permit goes in first.
- 3
Pair the permits
A water heater carries a plumbing permit and a gas permit, filed together when it is a domestic gas unit.
- 4
Book the inspection
The town inspects the work. A failed inspection means a re-inspection fee, so we check connections before we leave.
Roads, routes and the rotary
I-495 runs through town with four interchanges, and Routes 28, 18, 79, 105 and 44 cross it. The town's own planning documents mention congestion at the rotary and I-495, and traffic can add to the drive.
So we ask for your street, your cross street and the route you are nearest to. That helps dispatch pick the right plumber, and it tells you the route you may want to avoid if you need to leave the house.
After the 2010 floods
Two 100-year floods hit in March and April 2010, and the town's hazard plan records flooded approaches to bridges on Summer Street and Titicut Street. The Nemasket River, which begins at Lake Assawompset, flooded severely in 2010.
Homes near that water can see sump pumps run constantly for days. Sump pump service before the wet season, with a working check valve and a clear discharge line, keeps a cellar dry.
Sewer backup in the center?
Stop running water and call. We answer at any hour, and the plumber states the price before any cable goes in.
Lakeville and the towns around Middleborough
Lakeville, ZIP 02347, split from Middleborough in 1853 and borders it. We reach it with the same 24/7 dispatch, along with Carver 02330, Rochester 02770 and Plympton 02367.
Lakeville homes lean on private wells and septic, and the Assawompset Pond Complex lies partly in town. A flooded cellar, a failed pump or a backup there is the same emergency call.
State rule behind the permit counter
Whatever the town's counter asks for, the state rule is 248 CMR 3.05. Clearing a stoppage and repairing a leak in a faucet or valve are exempt, and most other plumbing work needs a permit issued to a licensed plumber before it starts, with an inspector reviewing it afterward.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Middleborough's ZIP is 02346, which covers the center, North Middleborough, Rock Village and the rest of town. Lakeville is a separate town with ZIP 02347, and we serve it as well.
Yes. The line is answered 24/7, including nights, weekends and holidays. A dispatcher books the next open licensed plumber, and same-day appointments are offered when a slot is available.
Ask the town's Sewer Department if you are unsure. If you have a septic tank and a leach field, you are not on the sewer. Tell the dispatcher what you know and we sort out the rest on site.
The department handles its own mains, and the road itself is the town's job. We can close your own shutoff, find leaks in the service line to the house and fix everything inside.
Yes. The town's fee schedule lists plumbing and gas permits for water heaters, filed together. Our licensed plumber files the permit and arranges the inspection.
Odor can come from a dry trap, a cracked vent or a partial blockage. Pour water in the floor drain, keep windows open and call, since a camera will show the cause.
Yes. Mixed pipe, old shutoffs and cast iron drains are routine. The plumber describes the options and the price before starting.