Workers with the Lehigh County Authority have been very busy this winter responding to broken pipes.
Officials there expect to see more water main breaks this week as the temperatures finally begin to rise.
A recent major water main break in Allentown on Parkway Boulevard and Ott Street took six hours to repair.
Just this weekend, the Lehigh County Authority responded to more than 100 residential service calls, and that number is expected to rise in the week ahead.
“So, we’re going to see a lot more breaks and a lot more pipes burst from the thaw that’s going to happen and the temperatures rising,” said Taylor Stakes of the Lehigh County Authority.
The Lehigh County Authority has been busy during a very cold winter, with more than 20 water main breaks since November. Water mains can break when the freezing ground shifts.
“With the extreme cold that we’ve had, the ground will actually move as it as it freezes and create a crack in the mains,” said Joseph Younes of the Lehigh County Authority.
The mains carry water to your home, but the LCA has responded to multiple frozen meters and copper pipes from homeowners too, most likely in the basement. Those are your responsibility to protect. Wrapping basement pipes in newspaper or old blankets can insulate your pipes to 50 degrees. You can even use a swimming pool noodle to wrap copper pipes.
“You can get full lengths of this and wrap your whole pipe, put a little tape around it, and now you’ve insulated your pipe. And use your blanket, and you’ve insulated your water meter. So now you gave yourself a fighting chance from having frozen pipes in your home,” said Bill Brogan of the Lehigh County Authority.
Workers here at the LCA have been working up to 18 hours keeping up with service calls.