Bitter cold triggers water main breaks throughout region

Bitter cold causes water main breaks throughout region

It's not just people who are tired of the cold. The region's aging infrastructure is too. FOX 5's Josh Rosenthal reports.

WASHINGTON - It's not just people who are tired of the cold. The region's aging infrastructure is too.

What we know:

A water main break Monday in the 4200 block of Elizabeth Street in Rockville was merely the latest.

WSSC Water, which serves Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, has repaired nearly 300 breaks or leaks since November 26, according to officials.

"The water main breaks have ramped up a little bit earlier this December because of the cold temperatures," said spokesperson Lyn Riggins. "It’s been a colder than average December so far."

Dig deeper:

The Potomac River has a lot to do with the breaks.

Riggins said the river temperature has dropped by about 17 degrees since late November, from 49 to 32 degrees. The cold water then travels through nearly 6,000 miles of water distribution mains, it "shocks" the region's aging pipes, and causes them to break.

About 42 percent of water mains in WSSC Water's system are more than 50 years old, officials said.

Plea For Patience:

WSSC Water is asking for customers' patience while they work to make repairs.

"Repairing water mains is a process," explained Riggins. "It’s buried infrastructure. So, we have to locate all the other utilities in the area, pinpoint exactly where we need to dig, because we want to dig in the right place. We just want to dig once, fix it, and get everybody’s water back on."

Riggins added that the typical water main takes approximately four to six hours to repair once crews are able to expose the broken pipe.