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Just walk out the door in the morning and it鈥檚 quickly apparent that winter is coming. For some, it means the Christmas season is near. Or cuffing season or ski season.
For utility companies, it means broken water main season.
At the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, they know that, and they vow they鈥檙e ready for whatever winter brings 鈥� which is typically big spikes in work.
鈥淚n a year, we can repair around 1,800 water main breaks,鈥� said WSSC General Manager and CEO Carla Reid.
A majority of those breaks will happen between now and the end of February.
鈥淛ust during that four month period we can get up to 1,100 water main breaks,” Reid said.
WSSC will have crews on standby at all hours of the day and night, with contractors also at the ready for the really big jobs. The time it takes to fix any breaks can vary, based on the size and severity of the break.
What鈥檚 known as a circle break, where the pipe breaks in a nice, even circle, can take a few hours to fix. Other times a gash might rip out of the pipe, requiring crews to come in and put a new 7-foot span of pipe in the ground. Never mind the fact that it鈥檚 not always easy to find exactly where the break is.
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鈥淭here is no magic board that lights up when a water main breaks,鈥� said spokeswoman Lyn Riggins. 鈥淲e have 5,800 miles of water mains in the two counties, and we don鈥檛 know when those smaller 6 or 8 inch water mains in your neighborhood street is breaking or is leaking.鈥�
Reid said about 40% of those pipes are also over 50 years old. Made up of old iron, they鈥檝e pumped a lot of water through the region, and the dip in temperatures means they鈥檙e the ones most likely to need emergency repairs.
But even if it鈥檚 not always clear where the break is happening, WSSC does have a clue about when things might start getting busy. It鈥檚 usually when the temperature of the Potomac River starts to drop.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the closest thing we have to a crystal ball,鈥� said Riggins. Whenever the river reaches its lowest temperature since the previous winter, 鈥渨e know a couple of days later we are going to see an increase in water main breaks.”
鈥淣ew low on Monday,鈥� explained Riggins, 鈥測ou will likely see an increase in breaks Wednesday or Thursday.鈥�
And it doesn鈥檛 have to be a dramatic drop.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no magic number,鈥� Reid said. 鈥淏ut when we see a constant decrease in temperature,鈥� even if it鈥檚 just a degree or two, they know breaks can start to happen. If you see one before a WSSC crew is on the scene, you鈥檙e asked to call it in just in case they haven鈥檛 detected it yet.
鈥淲e are absolutely winter ready,鈥� Reid said. 鈥淲e are ready for however busy it is. It can鈥檛 be too busy.鈥�
