ST. LOUIS – Water main breaks are becoming an increasingly big issue in our area, impacting many people.
A broken main can be seen at Potomac between January and July. St. Louis City water crews have been on the scene for some time trying to make repairs. The process is continuing as we speak.
City water workers told FOX 2 that they had to shut down water service to residents in the neighborhood while repairs were made. Crews claim this is an 8-inch main that broke. They shared that repairs shouldn’t take too long once they get all of the water shut off.
Another recent water main break occurred in the city. This one was in Dogtown at Tamm and Manchester.
Curt Skouby, the city’s director of public utilities, says in the last two weeks, residents have seen more than 60 water main breaks in the city of St. Louis. Meanwhile, officials have been busy restoring a little over 200 breaks since Monday. City officials explained that the cold weather and aging infrastructure led to the breaks.
We’re also told the water temperature is dropping below 40 degrees, which causes problems as well due to the iron contracting and ultimately breaking. Here is some of what Skouby told us about the breaks:
“Most years, when you have real cold weather like this, we’ll get an increase in water main breaks and we’re scrambling to address them all,” Skouby said. “It’s a tough job to do in the weather and we appreciate their patience and understanding but also appreciate the very inconvenience of not having water in their home when they need it.”
City workers are asking for patience as they try their best to get all of these breaks fixed as quickly as possible. Both MoDOT and IDOT have those numbers you can call to report potholes
For MoDOT, report potholes at MoDOT.org or call 888-ASK-MODOT. To report a pothole in Illinois, call (618) 346-3100.
