Another rupture

The city has restored water to most of the Old City area affected earlier Saturday when a water main break flooded streets.

Mayor Nutter showed up to tell residents that they may still be experiencing low water pressure but water was flowing again.

“The water department has done an excellent job in shutting the main down in about an hour,” said Nutter about the break in the 48-inch transmission main that connected to a 36-inch pipe that sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of water gushing into the streets.

He said most of the water had been turned on. “We are experiencing low water pressure for some of the homes in the immediate area.”

Nutter said the city would do a full investigation to determine the cause and how this break compares to others that occurred this year in other areas of the city.

“There’s really no consistency from one water main break to the next,” said Nutter. “Some of it is certainly aging infrastructure but sometimes they get a hairline crack because of the amount of water and pressure which can blow a part of it out.”

source: Nutter: Water flowing again to most of Old City – Philly.com.

The mains are old and if they aren’t then the streets, road beds and casings around them are old. Philadelphians need money to be spent to repair and upgrade water mains in our city, one of the oldest large cities in the country. But you know, the market will correct this.