City sees nearly 50 busted water mains in 4 months

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Dozens of water main have been broken in Lafayette in the span of just a handful of months.

Lafayette has seen nearly 50 water main breaks since October. Thursday's water main break downtown at the intersection of Third and Columbia Streets marked break 49 since October.

Lafayette Water Works Superintendent Kerry Smith said while it sounds like a lot it's nothing unusual. Between October and March his office will see 55 to 60 water main breaks, and it's all because of the weather.

"When the temperature fluctuates the ground moves," Smith said. "It shifts ever so slightly, but it's enough to snap a cast iron main."

This winter the weather has been keeping Lafayette Water Works busy.
    
"This winter they've been so steady because the temperature has been up and down, up and down, up and down, and because of all the fluctuation of the temperatures, that's why we've had just a constant flurry of activity around here," Smith said.

Smith said some of the water mains are almost 150 years old, but those aren't the ones that are breaking. He said the ones that are breaking were manufactured from the 1930s to the 1960s. Since the late 1970s they've used something new.

"We started using what's called ductile iron," Smith said. "Ductile iron is spun instead of cast and it typically doesn't break. We've had one or two but typically ductile iron doesn't break."

Lafayette Water Works does repair small and old infrastructure as part of a water main replacement program.

"As the funds become available to do that, because it is an expensive process, we do go into some of these older neighborhoods and replace water mains," Smith said.

Smith said his office is on call 24/7 until April and crews will be ready for the next water main break.