PITTSBURGH — Water main breaks are a common issue dealt with in western Pennsylvania, especially during the winter months when subzero temps expand pipes.
In 2014, more than 400 water main repairs occurred in Pittsburgh.
Channel 11’s Brittny McGraw rode along with a leak detection crew Friday to see what’s being done about small leaks before they become big breaks.
FREE APPS | NOW | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
- Rare photo of 'World's Most Loyal Dog' has special meaning
- TGI Fridays owner apologizes for Facebook post by waitress
- Nurse accused of taking pain medication from patients
- PHOTOS: What's open, what's closed on Thanksgiving?
"We're trying to take care of this now before wintertime comes, so it doesn't become a bigger problem,” Larry Deriggi of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said.
Deriggi is part of PWSA’s leak detection crew.
"A lot of people do not know we exist,” he said.
He showed McGraw how the crew uses sensors, computers and microphones to listen for and then find leaks that might otherwise go unnoticed.
"You know when you have a leak. Just a higher-pitched frequency coming,” Deriggi said.
PWSA has 930 miles of water lines to maintain and much of that infrastructure is old.
"Our pipes are anywhere from 50 to 100 years old,” Brendan Schubert of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said.
Schubert said addressing the aging water lines takes time and money and that’s why there’s a multiyear, $156 million plan in place to update water and sewer infrastructure.
Last year, PWSA crews repaired more than 410 water mains.
Deriggi said the leak detection crew tries to be as proactive as possible to make sure small leaks don’t turn into big breaks.
“There’s 70 million gallons of water being pumped through the system every day. We're trying to do our best to recover that water,” he said.
PWSA officials said reports from customers are one of the ways they’re notified about possible leaks.