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Dec 4, 2008 7:30 pm US/Eastern
Winter Weather To Bring More Water Main Breaks
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Water lines across the area are breaking left and right, and it's not likely to stop soon.
Water lines across the area are breaking left and right, and it's not likely to stop soon.
Alex DeMetrick reports the occurrence is normal during the winter.
From shoveling out small holes in the road to big ones, water that should be running in pipes is running into the ground causing chunks of street to give way.
"The surface of the ground gets hit by the freezing temperatures. It sends a little bit of movement throughout the ground below," said Kurt Kocher, Baltimore Department Of Public Works.
That movement finds its way into weak spots in pipes, cracking them open. That's normal for winter.
But what about water line breaks the rest of the year, especially along the same sections of street that repeatedly fail?
"It's just been going on for years, and they keep coming by patching it up. And actually the ground sinks," said Wayne Rabb.
The age of the pipes, soil acidity and manufacturer defects can cause repeated breaks. And then there's equipment and human error.
One leak along 39th and Greenmount, for example, was the result of a mistake last summer when too much water pressure loosened joints all along the pipeline.
Still, 90 percent of breaks come from the frigid temperatures. So the colder it gets, the more repair crews will be working up a sweat.
Baltimore's Department of Public Works says most breaks happen along small pipelines. Unfortunately, it's the small lines that serve most residential customers.
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