Davidson Co. sees increase in water main breaks during winter months

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - In recent years, Davidson County has seen greater number in water main repairs during months like January and February.

With winter ahead, areas could see an increase in breaks during the colder season.

“Because we know during those colder months we are going to see an increase in breaks, we increase our staff and we increase our on-call staff,” Sonia Allman, Manager of Strategic Communication at Metro Water Services, said.

So far to date Metro Water Services has had 448 breaks this year. The most breaks in one month over the past three years was February 2021 with 127.

“I am happy to say that even with that number of breaks, if you were to ask the community how often they are without water, most members of our community would say very rarely because very often we are able to address those breaks,” Allman said.

Some of the factors contributing to main breaks include the age of the pipe, weather conditions, water temperatures, soil conditions and even construction.

“When you look at all of the different things that can affect our water main breaks it is often very difficult for us to determine the exact cause, so we say it’s natural causes and very often it is multiple causes,” Allman said.

If you experience a water interruption or see water coming from the ground, customers are asked to call 615-862-4600.

“When those temperatures do get really cold and Metro Water Services is experiencing main breaks, we also see a lot of calls come in from homes that have broken water mains or pipes inside their homes, so we recommend when it is really cold not to ever lift your meter lids. That allows the cold air in and could break your meter,” Allman said.

Customers can also visit the Metro Water Services outage map to learn more about what’s happening in your area.

Copyright 2022 WSMV. All rights reserved.