It's 'Fix-a-Leak' week

Water Drop

Posted 2/28/18

With a significant portion of our system installed right after World War II, we are no stranger to main breaks — as a few businesses and homeowners witnessed in the past two months when we experienced three water main breaks.

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It's 'Fix-a-Leak' week

Water Drop

Posted

With a significant portion of our system installed right after World War II, we are no stranger to main breaks — as a few businesses and homeowners witnessed in the past two months when we experienced three water main breaks.
These unfortunate situations are a part of operating a water system, and we’re not alone.
The American Society of Civil Engineers’ grade for America’s drinking water infrastructure is a D. That comes as no surprise considering there are 240,000 water main breaks each year in the U.S wasting an estimated 2 trillion gallons of treated water.  AWWA estimates $1 trillion dollars to maintain and expand service to meet demands in next 25 years.
The City of Torrington Water Dept. operates and maintains more than 52 miles of various sizes and composition of water distribution lines—enough to stretch from Torrington to almost Wheatland. These pipes that carry clean drinking water to your home vary in size, from ¾ inch to 1 inch-diameter service lines to a 24-inch-diameter pipe coming from the Water Treatment Plant.
Every main break is different, but fixing it safely and quickly are always a top priority — to minimize disruption to our customers who live, work or commute in the area, and to make sure we lose as little water as possible. Cracks and breaks occur based on the condition of the pipe and its surroundings — including age, pipe material, how corrosive the soil is, water flow, temperature and more.

In the past 16 months, 6 water main breaks have been repaired and 40 service lines have been replaced within the City. 556,024,000 gallons of water were treated last year with estimates that less than 2 percent of that water is lost to breaks and leaks we find and repair. While water loss due to undetected leaks and main breaks is inevitable, our goal is to proactively locate those leaks and respond quickly to water main breaks across our system.
How do we know how much water is lost through main breaks and leaks? Without a water meter attached to a main break — which isn’t a viable option — we have to rely on calculations that factor in the size of the pipe, cause of the break, average flow rates and average water shut-off times. Here’s how some of the numbers break down:
• ¾-inch or 1-inch service line leak = 3,000 to 15,000 gallons per day
• 6-inch main break = 30,000-156,000 gallons
• 8-inch main break = 35,000-252,000 gallons
• 12-inch main break = 45,000-378,000 gallons
• 24-inch main break = 52,000-1,125,000 gallons
Whether at the municipal or the household level, we waste a lot of water. Replacing the aging infrastructure on a national level seems a bit overwhelming, but there is a lot you can do to save water and money. Detecting and then fixing simple residential leaks requires little investment and will end up saving you a boatload of money on your water bills. Nationally, household water waste totals over a trillion gallons - or the equivalent of 11 million households’ yearly usage. The most common types of leaks at the household level are worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and leaky showerheads. 10% of US homes waste over 90 gallons a day just from these small fixtures.
How can you help? You already do! Your water rates fund the programs to maintain, upgrade and replace our aging system, helping us ensure we provide you and the over 6,500 people we serve with clean, safe water every day.  If you see what may appear to be a leak in the street, give our emergency dispatchers a call at 532-7001 or the Water Department at 532-2012.
Are you ready to chase down leaks? Each year we hunt down the drips during Fix a Leak Week. Mark your calendars for EPA’s tenth annual Fix a Leak Week, March 19 through 25, 2018—but remember that you can find and fix leaks inside and outside your home to save valuable water and money all year long.