The frigid temperatures are taking their toll on D.C.-area water systems. Burst pipes and water mains are causing numerous road closures and leaving many without water.
“In the past two days, we’ve seen about 70 water main breaks and leaks,” WSSC Water spokesperson Lyn Riggins told WTOP Monday.
A water main break in Silver Spring prompted officials to close all southbound lanes of Route 29 on Colesville Road on Sunday, which remained closed until around 1 p.m. Monday, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration.
WSSC Water monitors and maintains nearly 6,000 miles of water pipes in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. On average, there are 1,800 breaks and leaks in a year. The vast majority of those happen during the winter months.
The cause of most of these breaks are severe drops in water temperature of the Potomac River.
Twelve days ago, the river was 46 degrees Fahrenheit. It has now dropped to 33 degrees.
“When that Potomac River temperature hits a new low for the season, a couple of days later, we will see an increase in water main breaks,” Riggins said.
Around 40% of the pipes and water mains controlled by WSSC Water are at least 50 years old. When that colder-than-normal water starts to move through them, it “shocks them” and those older brittle pipes tend to break, she said.
Some of the breaks and leaks are fairly easy to fix. For example, a pipe may have a small crack and a clamp is quickly placed on it.
“There are other ones where we call them a split break, where the pipe is literally blown out and … we have to dig. We have to get the pipe out, cut it out, cut out the bad section, put a new section in,” Riggins said, such as the water main break in Colesville Road. “Then you have a lot of road restoration to do.”
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