Colorado has many positive attributes, including an abundance of sunshine year-round that helps alleviate winter doldrums. While great for outdoor recreation, our unique winter weather can include wide swings in temperature in just 24 hours. One day you’re building a snowman and the next day he’s disappearing into a puddle before your eyes.
Colorado’s rapid winter freeze-thaw cycle puts extra strain on our underground pipes, especially in our region where clay soils are common. These soils contract and expand as the weather cycles, putting additional force on water pipes that may already be weakened by corrosion. That’s why we see more main breaks occur between mid-November and February each year.
Fortunately, no matter the weather, our water construction crews and planners are experienced with assessing and repairing breaks when they occur, and then using information from those breaks to reduce the risk for future failures. We are also taking steps to proactively replace or refurbish water mains whenever possible. For example, we completed hundreds of water main projects within the last five years and have many more planned for completion by 2030.
As part of our water main replacement program, we track the age and condition of more than 2,200 linear miles of water infrastructure within our service territory.
Replacement and rehabilitation projects are assessed and prioritized according to 1) risk of failure, and 2) magnitude of impact. Several assessment and treatment methods are used to reduce risks, including leak detection, pressure management, water quality, fire flow, advanced conditions assessment, cathodic protection and rehabilitation.
Like many water utilities across the country, our underground system is complex, and the cause of failures is not always the result of age. Most metal pipes in our system were installed between 1950 and 1985; however, pipe materials that predate the 1970s can be incredibly thick, well made and resistant to corrosion.
Due to the location of water mains, breaks in pipes can impact roads and alleyways. That means our crews must work in busy traffic areas, often in winter weather conditions. It’s important that motorists be cautious in cone zones and avoid the area of construction work whenever possible for everyone’s safety, and to allow us to restore service as quickly as possible.