OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Crews in Oak Ridge are working to replace several miles of old water pipes. Old pipes can cause water main breaks, which can cause residents to lose water in their homes.
Replacing underground pipes is an ongoing process for all cities. Pipes are always aging and replacing them is continuous work.
Oak Ridge is in the middle of a multi-million-dollar project, in which crews are replacing about five miles worth of pipe across the city. Two of those miles are the primary feed to the west end of the city.
“That line has seen 15 or so breaks in the last decade, and those breaks can be a greater detriment to the city because that feeds into the reservoir that then feeds out to about a third of our citizens,” says Patrick Berge, Oak Ridge’s Public Works Director.
During the wintry weather, there were 35 water main breaks over eight days. Typically, during colder weather, there may be one or two breaks reported per day. And during the summer, about two breaks are reported a week. The pipes are from the 1940s and 1950s when the city was first built.
“We've been seeing an increase in main breaks really since the early 2010s, and it is continuing to go up from there,” says Berge.
Oak Ridge is using money from the federal American Rescue Plan to replace the piping system. Berge also said the city is looking at replacements on some of the smaller lines that have had five, six or more breaks.