UNDER PRESSURE: Leak at Water Works plant leads to over 30 water main breaks



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- On Saturday and Sunday, May 17th and 18th, there were more than 30 water main breaks in the city of Milwaukee -- and apparently, they're all related!

The city had to shut down one of its two water treatment plants on Saturday because it had a leak, so when the Linnwood Avenue plant took on the extra load, it bumped up the water pressure to get drinking water through the entire city.

That's when water mains on the city's north side began to fail.

One of those water main breaks occurred in the 4400 block of N. 63rd Street in Milwaukee.

"It looks a lot worse than it really is. Typical, typical water main break," Dave Klug, Distribution Field Supervisor with Milwaukee Water Works said.

John Arends was on scene Sunday, marking the underground utilities before anyone started digging.

"So there is no gas leak and nobody gets hurt at the end of the day," Arends said.

These were typical, textbook water main breaks -- with the exception of the frequency at which they were occurring -- and why.

"The Howard plant has been shut down a couple times in recent years for different kinds of emergencies and maintenance and there were also water main breaks that occurred during those time frames," Carrie Lewis, the Superintendent of Milwaukee Water Works said.

The Howard plant is currently shut down because of a water main leak affecting a pumping station.

The city is trying to figure out what is causing that leak.

"We wont know until we can expose it and look right at it," Lewis said.

Until then, Milwaukee Water Works' 800,000 customers are getting water from one source -- so older pipes are under more pressure than they're used to.

"The breaks are continuing to come in. Our crews are working around the clock and they are going from one break, to the next, to the next, to the next," Lewis said.

The water main breaks could be happening into Monday.

Water Works wants to stress that the water is safe to drink and use.

Milwaukee Water Works urges its customers to check their own homes at least once during every season of the year for water leaks.

Water Works officials say toilet leaks are the most common culprit of higher water usage and higher-than-normal water bills.

Milwaukee Water Works offers its customers toilet leak-detecting dye tabs that are available by calling the Customer Service Center, or emailing Water Works.

Additionally, Water Works has available on its website a calculator that will help you to determine how much water could be leaking from your home.

CLICK HERE to visit Milwaukee Water Works' website, to see if you can save money on your water bill.