Frigid temperatures around the area are having an impact on more than just comfort. It’s an added variable impacting an aging infrastructure system across the Triangle.

Several water mains have burst in the last 24 hours from Chapel Hill to Raleigh and in between. In Cary, a pipe burst in two different places on Northwest Cary Parkway, but it wasn’t just the chill.

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“We think this is just an aging pipeline in our network,” said Town of Cary Utilities Director Jamie Revels. “Weather definitely contributes to causing stress on pipes, especially over many, many years of service. So any little bit of movement within the soil, whether it can be dry conditions, cold conditions, anything like that over years and years of service, can impact those pipes over time.”

The ground shifting over time can move the pipe, causing rocks to puncture it. The town of Cary says 120 homes were without water during this repair.

“A lot of factors come into play,” Revels said. “It can be related to the material of the pipe, construction conditions from many years ago, corrosion, movement in the soil that can impact and cause breaks. A lot of things can contribute to it.”

The town of Cary maintains some 1,172 miles of water pipes. It has a major focus on maintaining the infrastructure annually, pouring some $5 million into a budget for water main replacements.

Money that is needed every year.

“Sometimes, it’s even more than that,” Revels said. “It can be $5 million to $7 million just to go in and proactively replace old pipes.”

Revels says they try to identify pipes in need of replacement before they burst, like on NW Cary Parkway. He said the pipes installed in the 1970s, 80s and 90s are a focus right now, in that order. But it’s not just a pipe for a pipe swap. They’re utilizing a better and longer-lasting pipe for these replacements now.

“Most pipe materials have a 50-year design life,” Revels said. “Ductile iron is known for lasting well over 100 years in many cases. That’s the standard for which we build our pipes in Cary.”

It’s an issue seen across the area. The city of Raleigh has seen a 37.3% increase in the number of water main breaks since 2019, rising from 158 to 217.

In Cary, Revels says they see about 10 to 20 more complicated main breaks per year that involve substantial traffic control, versus their routine service line repairs.

“Based on industry standards, our overall number of main breaks is relatively low,” Revels said. “We work really hard to keep the water main break count as low as it can be.”

It’s also a time of year when municipalities’ pipes aren’t the only ones at risk of bursting.

Revels says when the temperature dips below freezing, the best way to avoid an issue is to open up cabinet doors beneath the kitchen and bathroom sinks to allow warmer air to circulate around the pipes.

And, if it gets cold enough, running a drip of cold water from a faucet, roughly the thickness of a pencil, can help prevent freezing.

“All those kinds of things are really good, common sense,” Revels said. “Certainly, when it gets down below freezing, those tips come into play.”

Revels provided even more tips on keeping your home’s pipes from freezing or bursting. You can read more on the Town of Cary website.