Water Main Breaks Threaten Gas Lines

Water mains are bursting all over the country this winter, but it's not just water delivery that gets hurt. Heating is threatened, too.

In December, a water main burst in Amherst, NY. The rupture leaked "water into gas lines, and [caused] furnaces to shut down," WIVB reported. "More than 140 households were affected, but no one used a temporary heating center set up by National Fuel."

Over a month later, the problem persists. "Utility crews are still working in the neighborhood, with water or moisture occasionally turning up in gas lines or gas meters, and freezing," the report said.

Although the water main was fixed only hours after it burst, the gas problems proved much harder to solve.

Amherst Building Commissioner Tom Ketchum said, "Somewhere in the process, it became evident that water from the water break had gotten into the gas line," per the report.

National Fuel spokesperson Karen Merkel described the scale of the damages. “It is a very extensive process and project. We have multiple crews out there that are trying to expedite and get this done as quickly as possible,” she said, per the report.

Amherst isn't alone. Many other cities are facing the same problem this winter after water mains burst. In Austin, TX, a broken water main break "caused a gas line to rupture [in early winter]. Texas Gas Service crews [went] door-to-door, restoring gas to about 35 homes," KXAN reported.

In Sioux City, IA, this winter, a water main break caused a road to collapse. The collapsed pavement then hit a gas line, "leaving nine customers without gas, said MidAmerican Energy spokeswoman Ruth Comer. Comer said all gas service was restored with a temporary line, which will be replaced when the reconstruction of Macomb Avenue begins," according to the Sioux City Journal.

According to a water infrastructure report card ;published in 2013 by the American Society of Civil Engineers, "There are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year in the United States."

"Assuming every pipe would need to be replaced, the cost over the coming decades could reach more than $1 trillion, according to the American Water Works Association (AWWA)," the report said.