The soaring number of water main breaks in the District this week is standard fare for the coldest weeks of winter, as 100-year-old pipes succumb to below freezing temperatures.
Most of the pipes maintained by the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority are made of ductile iron, a strong but flexible material that happens to be very susceptible to temperature swings. The piping contracts and expands in the cold, eventually cracking.
Roughly 70 percent of all water main breaks occur in the winter, said Michele Quander-Collins, D.C. WASA spokeswoman. A crew member assigned to fix the breaks Wednesday said there had been 18 this week alone.
“This [season] has been a little bit less because we had a warm December,” said Louis Jarvis, director of water services with D.C. WASA.
The authority has tackled 80 leaks so far this winter, Jarvis said, compared to 180 in 2006, 220 in 2005, 240 in 2004 and 301 in 2003. Valve and main replacements, Jarvis said, are improving the system and reducing the breaks.
Other jurisdictions, Jarvis said, are investigating the use of plastic or concrete pipes to replace the ductile iron mains — which in many cases were installed in the 19th century. District pipes range from 6 inches to 3 feet around.
“It’s not necessarily the age,” Quander-Collins said. “Many of the pipes are over 100 years old and they’re working fine.”
At 1335 H St. Northeast on Wednesday, a broken 6-inch water main left 12 homes without water. Another 6-inch broken main on
left 50 to 60 homes dry Tuesday.”We like to respond to it almost immediately, to fix them within five days,” Jarvis said. “But whenever we have homes affected, any residences or hospitals, we push that up.”
