(Kansas City, MO.) – In order to get quality drinking water to your tap, KC Water operates and maintains over 2,800 miles of water mains in Kansas City. Lined up, end to end, these pipes would stretch from New York to Los Angeles. Once our crews are on site, our goal is to repair a water main break in an eight-hour period. Currently, KC Water crews average 7.3 hours to complete a repair.
“Maintaining these pipes is not an easy job. We have really good inspections teams who locate problems so our repair groups can respond in a timely manner,” said Aaron Balliet, KC Water Utility Repair Manager.
Water main breaks occur for a variety of reasons including corrosion, stress and strain on the system related to the age of the pipe, change in the water temperature, and dryness of the clay soils.
“We make sure our water distribution system is healthy and running efficiently. One of the ways we monitor the health of our system is by the number of water main breaks per one hundred miles. A healthy system in a city of our size, according to national standards, will experience about 25 breaks per 100 miles or less. KC Water averages about 28 breaks/ 100 miles. It’s all about monitoring and maintaining,” said KC Water Director, Terry Leeds.
For more information contact Heather Frierson, KC Water Media Relations Coordinator, at heather.frierson@kcmo.org 816-513-0280, cell 816-674-0211.
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KC Water maintains and operates water treatment and distribution systems, stormwater management systems, and wastewater collection and treatment systems for residential and business customers in Kansas City and for wholesale customers in the Kansas City area. KC Water is primarily funded by fees charged to customers based on their use or impacts on the three utility systems.
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