Summer drought, continued aging infrastructure possible root causes of several water main breaks

After three water main breaks within a week and five breaks since Oct. 9, Cape Girardeau's aging water system, a summer drought and hydrant testing contributed to the incidents.

Alliance Water Resources local manager Jonathan Ridings said the latest main break happened Monday, Oct. 21, at Sunset Boulevard and Bessie Street. He said it was a 6-inch cast iron pipe. There was no boil advisory issued.

According to a document given to the Southeast Missourian, there were 12 water main breaks in October 2022, four water main breaks in October 2023 and 16 water main breaks already this month.

Ridings said while they are "seldom" able to assign 100% of what caused a water main break, there can be identifiable possible causes. One of those causes can be a drought; he described that the ground constricts when it's dry, which can cause issues for water mains.

Ridings said fire hydrant testing also could be a possible cause for the breaks. He said for fire safety, the fire department has to open and close every fire hydrant.

"So, you're changing the pressures and the flows inside the pipe this time of year, right along with the ground restricting and, you know, compressing. So that combined caused more breaks," Ridings said.

Also, he noted there are older pipes in the system, including the 70-year-old cast iron pipe that broke Monday. Ridings said it's not the oldest pipe in the system, considering there are some from the 1890s. While some of the oldest pipes are very well made, they are usually the pipes that falter.

"We do, normally, experience more (main breaks) of this time of year," Ridings said. "They're more visible as well, right now, because this is a hot topic."

He said the root of the problem is that the city has an old water system. Ridings said even if a proposed water rate increase passes in November, nothing will change overnight.

"I don't see any reason to think they (water main breaks) will lessen," Ridings said. "We're still going to be having this issue next year."