This weekend's cold and wind chill are taking a toll on pipes. By noon today the Water Control Center had received more than two dozen calls from property owners about frozen and broken pipes. The Water Bureau can help by shutting off the water to the property to prevent damage from leaks. Crews today responded to shut off water at two vacant properties where water from broken pipes was flowing out the front doors.  The weather forecasts suggest Portland can expect a couple of more days of this cold winter weather. The Water Bureau's website offers important tips on how to keep pipes from freezing and breaking.

 

Water Bureau service crews are responding to three main breaks. One break at N. Montana and Buffalo involved a horizontal break in the pipe. To repair the damage, crews had to turn off water service to approximately 20 residential customers for a couple of hours. Sometimes it's possible to repair a main break by just reducing pressure on the main rather than shutting it down, but that wasn't possible this morning because of the length of the break. Two breaks, one at 62nd and Alberta and another at SW 8th and Chestnut, required only reducing pressure on the main. In the photo Utility Worker II Lowell Teasley works in the hole to repair the broken main.

 

Tricia Knoll

Public Information