TOWN OF TONAWANDA, NY (WKBW) — The deep freeze sweeping through the region is causing unprecedented disruptions for the Town of Tonawanda, as extreme cold temperatures continue to snap underground water lines at a record rate.
Since the start of January, the town has seen more than 160 water main breaks, with no signs of relief in sight as the freeze-and-thaw cycles wreak havoc on aging infrastructure.
I spoke with crews working around the clock to make repairs and restore water service to residents, despite bitter temperatures.
“Ice — ice is the worst, I would say,” said Patrick Rowland, Town of Tonawanda Water and Sewer Maintenance Department.
You might call Rowland a "marathon man" as he helped to repair some of the more than 160 water main breaks since January 1.
"How many have you been out on?” I asked.
"Myself? Maybe 100 plus,” replied Rowland.
Working through frozen ground, Rowland and his colleagues face constant setbacks as thawing pipes cause repeated breaks.
“Sometimes there's nothing you can do — you go to blow a line out after you've repaired the pipe, and it just blows up again. Blows up again. Those are the nights," Rowland said.
The freeze-thaw cycles have proven particularly devastating for Tonawanda’s aging water infrastructure.
Michael Kessler, the director of water resources for the town, told me as of Thursday night, the town reached a new record with 162 water main breaks.
"We're pushing close to four a day,” said Kessler.
Kessler praised the quick response and dedication of the crews, who have been able to limit the disruptions to residents.
“I haven’t had one complaint about somebody being out of water because they’re knocking them out so fast,” he explained. “They’re getting repair clamps on them right away. They're doing some of these while the water is still coming up the pipe."
One of the most challenging repairs occurred on Danbury Lane, where six separate breaks had to be fixed.
Rowland was on that repair that took hours.
“That was the worst for sure,” responded Rowland.
“Why?” What happened?” I asked.
“Just the setup and the way that the sewers were running next to the line, we couldn't really dig down next to the line with the machine as we'd like to as it was a lot of hand dig, and very, very cold. It ended up being multiple leaks. We ended up staying there 24 hours. It was a tough shift,” commented Rowland.
Despite the cold and difficult circumstances, crews are pushing through, working day and night to ensure the water keeps flowing for residents.
“They are a bunch of rock stars. They're working overnight, from seven in the morning, eight o'clock the next morning, and it's just been crazy,” Kessler said.
