Naperville suffered a large number of water main pipe breaks in July, with crews responding to calls of 13 breaks this year versus one during the same month last summer, according to city reports.
“As our infrastructure ages, we’re going to have this type of thing happen,” Naperville spokeswoman Linda LaCloche said. Older neighborhoods north of 75th Street are especially prone to pipe ruptures.
Most of the breaks have come as a result of corrosion attacking the pipe walls, staff reports said. Instead of a small crack, these breaks usually are severe as the corrosion destroys large portions of a pipe at once. The damage typically leaves several holes, requiring crews to replace multiple sections at once.
Other breaks have been classified as radial cracks, which are repaired by installing water main clamps over the breaks.
Adding to the problem is the quick emergency response needed to the repair breaks during hot summer days.
“The work that the (repair and evacuation employees) section perform is some of the most dangerous and physically demanding in the city,” the staff report said.
There were so many breaks that Naperville was forced to reach out to its on-call contractor twice in the past month to relieve the city’s workers. The team that fixes breaks is made up of a supervisor, two field supervisors and nine utility technicians, according to the staff report.
The city has efforts under way to repair some of its older pipes and look for leaks. Crews this month began a $584,000 project to replace an Ogden Avenue water main between Columbia and Wisconsin streets. Workers also began installing new electronic water meters in homes around town, which should help to better detect leaks.
It’s believed two-thirds of the system’s annual water leakage can be blamed on older meters with inaccurate readings, according city officials. About 3,000 homes will have their older analog meters swapped out for new electronic meters this year, with replacement continuing into the future until all of the older equipment is replaced.
July water main breaks occurred at:
Raymond Road north of Forestview Court
Iroquois Avenue and Spring Garden Circle
*1265 Marls Court
*507 E. Bauer Road
*2321 Worthing Drive
*1589 Naper-Wheaton Road
*Two breaks at 129 Springdale Drive
*2026 Bunker Circle
*1228 Calico Avenue
*605 Sunset Drive
*1121 Hidden Spring Drive
*1513 Warbler Drive
Twitter @GenevieveBook