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Water main breaks popping up around town

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Trish Bennett, Editor

City crews work on Monday’s federal holiday to repair a water main break on Edwards Road.

CIRCLEVILLE – City crews are working to repair a water main break on Edwards Road on the north end of the city.

It is one of two active breaks in the city on Monday, including one on Northridge Road near the intersection at Nicholas Drive.

“These little cold snaps, when they come for a few straight days of freezing temperatures, we have to be ready for these breaks,” said Nathan Anderson, director of public utilities.

Anderson said the break on Northridge Road was called in Sunday morning, but workers determined it was not causing an ice hazard and could wait until after the Presidents Day holiday for repair.

“This one that popped up on Edwards Road was causing a traffic hazard, though, so we had to get out there and take care of it,” he said.

Anderson said he does not anticipate having to issue a boil alert for either of the current breaks.

“We have boil alerts only when we have to shut down the line,” he said. “At this time, these are cracks that we should be able to fix while it’s under pressure. If it’s cracked bad enough, we may have to do a shutdown, but these two aren’t ones I foresee any boil alert required.”

Anderson said there have been four or five water main breaks in the city so far this year, compared to the average of six or seven in a year.

“I guess we’re on par,” he said. “We’re definitely seeing the effects of the cold weather, though, and we might see more as the ground thaws.”

Anderson said the breaks and their locations are a good indication of the age of the city’s infrastructure and the importance of replacing old lines.

“The Northridge one that is broken right now broke about 15 feet away from it in 2012,” he said. “The other one is the second one we’ve had on Edwards Road this year. It’s showing us what the infrastructure is and why we should look into getting these replaced.”

This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal