Posted on 01/22/25
| News Source: WBAL
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 22, 2025 - The cold weather has caused an increase in water main breaks as underground pipes expand and contract because of changes in temperatures.
A Baltimore City Department of Public Works command center opened on Mattfeldt Avenue in north Baltimore last week in anticipation of the cold temperatures.
Another water main break at Saint Paul and Monument Street in Mount Vernon is part of a rise of water-related problems causing challenges for DPW crews.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know where these are going to pop, but we know when you have a fluctuation in temperatures and add the old infrastructure that we have, this is going to happen,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.
The DPW told 11 News there have been 131 water main breaks in the past seven days in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. In that same time, crews repaired 100 of them. As of Wednesday afternoon, 31 active breaks remained.
“We have all hands on deck to make sure we are addressing this as quickly as possible,” said Steven Sharkey, interim bureau head for water and wastewater for DPW.
11 News observed maintenance, mapping teams and administrators working together.
“This is updated in real time so we can analyze where we need to put crews for water main breaks in Baltimore City and Baltimore County for our service areas,” said DPW engineer Cherod Hicks.
Right now, more than 35 DPW crews and contractors are working at locations like Mattfeldt Avenue in north Baltimore making repairs.