This extreme cold snap has put a lot of stress on our water system this week.
Water mains have ruptured, and in homes, water meters and copper pipes have failed.
In Allentown, a recent major water main break on Parkway Boulevard and Ott Street took six hours to repair.
It made a real mess too, turning the white snow to muddy brown.
The Lehigh County Authority has been busy in a very cold winter, with a large number of water main breaks; twenty 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, Senior Field Services Manager at 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.
The water authority is going with new meters that are less likely to fail.
“The burst strength is like 2300 pounds on these meters. So the pipe itself will burst before the meter itself,” said Bill Brogan, Customer Care Manager for the Lehigh County Authority.
There are methods to keep a water main break or a pipe break from becoming heartbreak for you and your family.
There are simple ways to prevent your water meter and your pipes from freezing without a lot of money. 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 nooflrd 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,” explained Brogan. “So now you gave yourself a fighting chance from having frozen pipes in your home.”
The LCA is also helping out our firefighters. by clearing off fire hydrants.
They want the public to do the same.
Take a picture of a hydrant that you cleared out, three feet on all sides, and upload it to LCA.org.
That enters you to win a 50 dollar gift card. Submit your photos by Tuesday.