Natural gas lines are less at risk because they are buried deeper than water mains, officials say.
As the Lehigh Valley and northwestern New Jersey face a thaw from this week's frigid temperatures, water suppliers say they have already addressed dozens of reports of frozen and broken pipes.
And more may to be come.
Temperatures are expected to slowly rise this week, with highs forecast at 51 degrees for Saturday in Easton, according to AccuWeather.com. That follows a week in which Sunday morning's low was 1 degree, temperatures reached 53 degrees on Monday and plummeted back near zero again Tuesday.
That type of freezing-thawing cycle
can leave underground water mains vulnerable, officials say.
Breaks in the New Jersey American Water Co. system's roughly 9,000 miles of pipes "can occur when there's a swing in temperatures and the ground, in which the pipes lie, shifts," said Richard Barnes, spokesman for the utility.
Aside from mains, Craig Swinsburg, assistant general manager for Easton Suburban Water Authority, said his department has already received more than 75 reports of frozen pipes since Saturday. More than two dozen have recently been reported to Hackettstown Municipal Utilities Authority, said Executive Director Bruce Smith.
Most recently, a sprinkler pipe froze and then burst, pouring water for about 20 minutes early Wednesday morning into the Freedom High School gym lobby.
"The guys have been pretty busy," said Swinsburg.
Thawing concerns
Even more calls are expected in the coming days as frozen pipes thaw and breaks are discovered, particularly in vacant homes, he said.
"We'll basically be tied up with that as it starts to thaw out," he said.
While temperatures the past couple of days have been colder than normal, it's not uncommon for water main breaks in the colder months as this time of year is typically "main break" season, Barnes said.
Smith said Hackettstown Municipal Utilities saw 22 water main breaks in 2013, the most in at least a decade. Pinpointing an exact cause was difficult, he said, but a combination of extreme weather and ages of the decades-old pipes likely played a role.
"There's not much you can do," he
said, adding crews were searching for an additional break Wednesday. "Basically, you spend a lot of
time out hunting for leaks."
As for this week's freeze-thaw cycle, Swinsburg said it wasn't as much of a concern as a prolonged cold spell would be. Frost on the ground exerts pressure on the pipes, increasing the deeper the frost goes, he said.
"The longer it stays below freezing, where the ground doesn't have a chance to thaw, the more frost penetrates into the ground," he said. "On our end, the longer frost is in the ground and the deeper it gets, the more issues we see."
Gas pipes deeper
UGI Utilities Inc. spokesman Joseph Swope said the gas company's pipes are buried deep enough they aren't typically subjected to temperatures swings. But like Swinsburg, he said cold spells draw the attention of the company.
"In periods of extreme cold weather such as this, UGI
increases its leak survey activity to ensure the integrity of our lines," he
said.
Aside from freezing and breaking pipes, Smith said frigid temperatures can also present water suppliers with additional problems. Frozen ground makes it harder to detect a leak as the typical signs, such as water bubbling to the surface, aren't as apparent.
"Sometimes with the frozen ground, (water) doesn't come to surface as easily as it would otherwise come up," Smith said.
Barnes added that crews replacing damaged pipes have been working in difficult conditions.
"The temperatures are especially challenging for our crews who are out 24 hours a days, seven days a week working to repair main breaks and keep our customers in water," he said.