We recently found this report, “Water Main Break Rates in the USA and Canada: A Comprehensive Study,” at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mae_facpub/174/

This important and detailed survey asked participants if they utilized a target break rate at which pipe replacement was implemented. Only 28% of the respondents said that they had a specific value. The average response was a target rate of 11 breaks/(100 miles)/year. Most respondents commented that they do not have a specific target break rate. However, break rates are a very important factor when locations for critical services are considered and when roads are being reconstructed.

North America’s water infrastructure is in decline. The signs of distress surface daily as water mains break creating floods and service disruptions. The loss of service is more than an inconvenience, causing significant social and economic disruptions. Economic impacts include loss of treated water, increased maintenance budgets, overtime hours for service personnel, traffic and business disruptions, and damage to private property.

Overall, break rates have increased 27% in the past six years. Utilities should be concerned that break rates for cast iron (CI) and asbestos cement (AC) pipes, which together represent almost half of the installed water mains in North America, have increased 46% and 43%, respectively, since 2012. Together, CI and AC pipes are mostly responsible for the spike in pipe failures. CI and AC pipes are no longer manufactured and are now reaching the end of their expected lives.

In the report, Figure 26 provides some insight to when pipe needs to be replaced, the most appropriate metric to making this decision should come from looking at break rates at sections of pipe with a similar age and material.

See the announcement below about the release of the Lead Service Line Inventory guidance and webinar. Please let me know if you have any questions.

EPA website link: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/revised-lead-and-copper-rule

This EPA guidance for communities and water utilities will help identify lead pipes that connect drinking water service to homes and other buildings and to develop and maintain inventories of these service lines. This action marks a key milestone in implementing the Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan and it will help water systems comply with the requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) that went into effect in December 2021. EPA is harmonizing regulatory requirements with unprecedented funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make rapid progress on removing harmful lead from America’s drinking water. The LCRR requires water systems to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024. This new Guidance will assist water systems in developing and maintaining service line inventories and will provide states with needed information for oversight and reporting to EPA.

Specifically, EPA Lead Service Line Inventory guidance:

1.      Provides best practices for inventory development and communicating information to the public.

2.      Includes a template for water systems, states, and Tribes to use or adapt to create their own inventory.

1.      Contains case studies on developing, reviewing, and communicating about inventories.

2.      Highlights the importance of prioritizing inventory development in disadvantaged communities and where children live and play.

This Guidance will also provide water utilities with information to develop lead pipe replacement projects. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provides $15 billion for lead service line replacement through the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (DWSRF). BIL funding can be used for lead service line replacement projects and associated activities directly connected to the identification, planning, design, and replacement of lead service lines, including development of service line inventories themselves.

EPA will hold a webinar on the service line inventory guidance as well as service line replacement eligibilities under DWSRF and BIL. The webinar is currently planned for August 10 and information on the webinar is posted here.

Marion, KY - Circuit Riders Nathan Gassaway & Cody Kirby discussed emergency response with Governor Andy Beshear at the distribution site for bottled water to Marion's residents.

Crucial Emergency Management and utility restoration efforts are ongoing in Marion and eastern Kentucky, where historic flooding has ravaged the region.

As of Monday morning, the Governor's office reported that in eastern Kentucky:

• 25,325 service connections were without water.

• 44,119 service connections were under a boil water advisory.

• 22 water systems have limited operations.

• 17 wastewater systems have limited operations, primarily due to flooded infrastructure.

110 N Atlantic Ave

Daytona Beach FL 32118

You can still register for this year's FRWA Annual Conference and have your nametag ready for pickup at the registration desk so click here to register today!

If you have any questions, please email Admin@frwa.net or call 850.668.2746.

August 1, 527 CE: Beginning of the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, builder of the Basilica Cistern. “The Basilica Cistern (Turkish: Yerebatan Sarayı – Sunken Palace, or Yerebatan Sarnıcı – Sunken Cistern), is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey. The cistern, located 500 feet southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. This cathedral-size cistern is an underground chamber approximately 453 by 212 feet – about 105,000 square feet in area – capable of holding 2,800,000 cubic feet [or 21 million gallons] of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 30 feet high, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns each spaced 16 feet apart. The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic and Corinthian styles, with the exception of a few Doric style with no engravings.” (edited by MJM)

Istanbul has always had limited water resources. Water supplies had to be transported to the city through long canals and aqueducts. Istanbul has also been the target of invading armies and has had to rely on stored water during long sieges. For these reasons, underground and open-air cisterns have always been a part of the city fabric. Sometimes stored water in local cisterns had to last the city’s population for months. There is no official count of the number of cisterns that had been built in ancient times, but dozens have survived and many can be visited. The Basilica Cistern is the grandest of them all.

Commentary: I recently read a novel entitled Inferno by Dan Brown. A significant part of the book takes place in this cistern. Great location of a movie shoot.

To enjoy more opportunities to take a look at the past in water history, go to this link.