People urged to conserve water amidst steep increase in water main breaks

WASHINGTON - Many people are tired of the freezing temperatures, and so are our pipes.

40 active breaks and leaks

What we know:

WSSC Water officials said they are dealing with a steep increase in the number of water main breaks and leaks as a result of the frigid temperatures.

"It’s busy. It’s really busy, and we’re expecting more water main breaks and leaks to come in because this cold is relentless right now," said spokesperson Lyn Riggins.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were roughly 40 active breaks and leaks throughout Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.

"Colder than normal water is coming in from the Potomac River and into our treatment plant, going out into our distribution system, and the pipes are noticing, ‘this is colder than normal water.' It’s shocking some of these older and brittle pipes in a matter of speaking, and they’re breaking," Riggins explained.

As a result, WSSC Water officials are urging their 1.9 million customers to only use water for essential purposes.

What they're saying:

Bethesda resident Alex Amdur said he wasn't surprised by the breaks and leaks, given the temperatures. He lives near several of them, and early Wednesday evening, he told Fox 5 he has been conserving water.

"I hope other people [are] too, so we can still have water," he added.

Dig deeper:

As bad as all the water issues may seem, the region has dealt with worse.

Riggins said that so far in January, WSSC Water crews have dealt with about 300 breaks and leaks. That pales in comparison to the more than 800 breaks and leaks they handled in January 2018, during the Polar Vortex.