Why Are There More Water Main Breaks In Summer?

DANVERS, MA -- Wednesday's water main break that left a sink hole on Cabot Road in Danvers was just the latest in what seems like a string of water main breaks hitting North Shore communities this summer. While New Englanders are used to water main breaks when temperatures drop in the winter, you're not imagining things when it seems as if there are more breaks this summer. And even with temperatures now nestled in the 80's, we can still thank -- make that blame -- last winter for the increase in water main bursts.

Water usage peaks in summer months as people water lawns, top off swimming pools and stay hydrated. That extra usage follows a period when those pipes were taxed handling runoff and melting from winter snow storms. The harsh winter also caused excessive freeze-thaw cycles of the ground, which is a natural enemy to aging water pipes found throughout the North Shore.

But we can't entirely blame winter. One theory suggests that the recent run of dry weather may be at fault, or at least a contributing factor. As the ground gets parched, it contracts and pulls away from the pipes encased within it. That's another possible cause of shifting pipes that lead to water main breaks.

Such breaks cause what are known as "split" breaks, which run along the length of the pipe rather than across it. Those breaks cause more damage and are harder to repair, which may suggest why yesterday's break in Danvers took more than eight hours to fix.

Nationally, there are about 850 water main break every day, and the annual cost of repairing them amounts to about $3 billion. This time of year, many of those breaks are consolidated in northern states.

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Photo of sinkhole on Cabot Road in Danvers by Donna Dunham vis Facebook.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).