Metissa Avelluto and her neighbors told the water department about the mini-river running down their block near Gregory and Main streets. That was months ago and nothings been done yet. The neighbors worry someone could slip on it when it freezes.Its been going on so long, I dont even know, Avelluto said. You cant miss it.Its a complaint all too familiar around Kansas City: Water bubbling up in a street, streaming down the curb, often icing over and posing a traffic hazard.And its the most visible symptom of whats become an epidemic in the city water main breaks.Water department officials say yes, Avellutos leak is on their list and they hope to get to it soon. But they built up a huge backlog of work from last year the worst year for main breaks on record and only now are getting caught up.Theres no quick fix to a huge problem thats been looming for decades. To fully replace all the underground pipes that are past their useful life could require $2 billion, and years of double-digit water rate increases. (Thats in addition to $2.5 billion thats planned for the next 25 years to upgrade the citys sewer system.)But water officials say they know they need to do better to speed up repairs, and theyre taking steps now. Theyve hired outside contractors to get to leaks faster; theyre making water-related street repairs a higher priority; and theyve brought on a high-dollar utility expert to put fresh eyes on the problem.I think we should have a higher expectation of us than what our recent past history has been, said Terry Leeds, acting Water Services director. Leeds himself was frustrated by a project on his block in the Northland. It was fixed in November, but the street asphalting took until just before New Years.Indeed, frustration over water main breaks is one of the most common complaints that Susan Borge, aide to Councilwoman Jan Marcason, hears from constituents.They often say, I cant believe were wasting all this water,  Borge said. They also complain about how long it takes to get the leaks repaired, and even longer to get the street restored.As far as the long-term prognosis, Russ Johnson, head of the City Councils Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said hed like to be able to tell the public that the department is turning the tide. But he cant.Were still losing ground, he said. Its lack of money.He said the department is spending as much capital improvements money as it can currently afford, but is still putting on Band-Aids. The solution could take a generation, he said.City Manager Troy Schulte told the council last year that the city should be spending $55 million per year on main replacements, but is spending only $24 million. His budget proposal for next year calls for more money, but its just a start.Officials see little chance for federal funding, at least in the short term. Leeds said there may ultimately be a federal water trust fund, like the U.S. has for highways and airports, but local customers will bear the cost for the foreseeable future.As rate increases add up, water bills may not be as high as the monthly cell phone bill, but could be close. The days of water being a cheap commodity are over, Leeds said.Bad year for breaksAssistant Water Services Director Jim Mellem recalls how Thanksgiving of 2010 was mild and nice. But the following week, the weather turned cold and nasty and stayed that way until mid-March 2011.We never got caught up, Mellem said. The leaks didnt quit. Summer and autumn 2011 then turned brutally hot and dry, causing the ground to shift even more and adding to the misery. By the end of last year, Kansas City had tallied a record 1,731 water main breaks, much higher than the annual average of 1,100 going back to 1998. The city attributed the crisis to a combination of weather extremes and the age and condition of much of the citys 2,780 miles of mains.Surprisingly, the worst pipe may not be the oldest pipe in the inner city. Maps show bigger clusters of breaks occur in areas developed during and after World War II. Older pipes were built with thicker, better cast iron. But that was in short supply during and after the war, so areas developed 50 or 60 years ago used pipe with weaker materials.City officials say some of the most troublesome areas are in Brookside, Waldo and south Kansas City and in older, annexed subdivisions just north of the Missouri River, where the pipe was not installed to Kansas City standards.Still, some crumbling pipe also dates to post-Civil War days. Earlier this month, crews replaced a 100-foot section of leaky pipe in the River Market that was stamped 1874.Kansas City was not alone in suffering a record number of main breaks last year. Johnson County WaterOne had 765 breaks, compared with an annual average of 603 over the previous five years. Johnson County has about the same miles of pipe as Kansas City, but much of it is newer. Olathe had 124 main breaks, while its annual average is 72. And Independence had 275, up from its annual average of 211. Getting betterKansas Citys water main breaks cause more than just headaches and inconvenience. Some breaks cause serious, and expensive, damage.Last year, according to spokeswoman Colleen Doctorian, the department paid out nearly $495,000 for property damage claims associated with main breaks. And just this month, the City Council approved paying a claim of nearly $175,000 for damage caused when a 10-inch main broke last October and flooded 100 basement storage units for residents of 909 Walnut Street.Leeds and others say they are working hard to get to the breaks before they cause significant damage.The department is spending more than $20 million this year on water pipeline maintenance and has expanded the use of private contractors.Crews get to the most serious breaks within a day or two. And the department has whittled the list of moderate breaks which can take weeks to get to from 128 last November to fewer than 40 currently. Leeds said the department has begun evaluating how long it takes to address moderate breaks once reported, and how to accelerate that pace.The department had earlier budgeted $5 million for related street repairs, but just increased that contract by $2 million. Mellem said that, in addition to providing more crews, the department has improved its oversight of the street repairs, which he admits were taking too long.The tracking of that wasnt what it should have been, he said. Our goal is to have all the repairs done within 30 to 35 days.He said the department currently has a backlog of 100 to 125 street repair jobs, which should be completed in a few weeks if the weather stays favorable. But new jobs are always being added to the list.One big push this year is to finish replacing the two-inch mains that are among the citys leakiest. When they break, homes can be without water.The department is spending about $20 million this year to replace the last 28 miles of those mains. After that, the department will turn its attention to replacing larger mains.In his latest budget message, Schulte is asking to boost water revenues by 12 percent the third year of double-digit increases. The City Council still must approve a new rate increase, which would add nearly $6 million to the water fund.We must begin to aggressively replace our city water distribution system, and this budget begins the process of putting the long-term resources into place to rebuild the system, Schulte said in his budget message.The department has just begun a $250/hour contract with retired KCP&L President Bill Downey, who brings 40 years of electric utility experience. Schulte said hes looking to Downey to recommend business improvements to the water utility, including in the way it manages its main repairs and replacements.In an interview shortly before his assignment started, Downey said the main break situation is a key area hell be addressing, and hell be looking at how other cities respond to that challenge.The whole intent is to make sure we reduce the number of water main breaks and that we benchmark Kansas City against other cities, and that were performing well in that area, he said. I think theres room for improvement right now.Schulte said he knows the water department owes it to its customers to do better.We cannot continue to ask our customers for more money, he said, while at the same time failing to meet their expectations on an ongoing basis.

KansasCity.com

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AGING INFRASTRUCTURE | Replacing pipes in Kansas City could cost as much as $2 billion

KC faces an epidemic of broken water mains

Last year saw a record number of breaks. Officials say fixing the long-simmering issue won’t be easy.

By LYNN HORSLEY

The Kansas City Star

Keith Myers

E.J. Holland (left) and April Pugh cleared ice from a water main break in front of Grand Arts, 1819 Grand Blvd.

Record year for water main breaks

More News

Metissa Avelluto and her neighbors told the water department about the mini-river running down their block near Gregory and Main streets.

That was months ago and nothing’s been done yet. The neighbors worry someone could slip on it when it freezes.

“It’s been going on so long, I don’t even know,” Avelluto said. “You can’t miss it.”

It’s a complaint all too familiar around Kansas City: Water bubbling up in a street, streaming down the curb, often icing over and posing a traffic hazard.

And it’s the most visible symptom of what’s become an epidemic in the city — water main breaks.

Water department officials say yes, Avelluto’s leak is on their list and they hope to get to it soon. But they built up a huge backlog of work from last year — the worst year for main breaks on record — and only now are getting caught up.

There’s no quick fix to a huge problem that’s been looming for decades. To fully replace all the underground pipes that are past their useful life could require $2 billion, and years of double-digit water rate increases. (That’s in addition to $2.5 billion that’s planned for the next 25 years to upgrade the city’s sewer system.)

But water officials say they know they need to do better to speed up repairs, and they’re taking steps now. They’ve hired outside contractors to get to leaks faster; they’re making water-related street repairs a higher priority; and they’ve brought on a high-dollar utility expert to put fresh eyes on the problem.

“I think we should have a higher expectation of us than what our recent past history has been,” said Terry Leeds, acting Water Services director.

Leeds himself was frustrated by a project on his block in the Northland. It was fixed in November, but the street asphalting took until just before New Year’s.

Indeed, frustration over water main breaks is one of the most common complaints that Susan Borge, aide to Councilwoman Jan Marcason, hears from constituents.

“They often say, ‘I can’t believe we’re wasting all this water,’ ” Borge said. They also complain about how long it takes to get the leaks repaired, and even longer to get the street restored.

As far as the long-term prognosis, Russ Johnson, head of the City Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he’d like to be able to tell the public that the department is turning the tide. But he can’t.

“We’re still losing ground,” he said. “It’s lack of money.”

He said the department is spending as much capital improvements money as it can currently afford, but is still putting on Band-Aids.

The solution could take a generation, he said.

City Manager Troy Schulte told the council last year that the city should be spending $55 million per year on main replacements, but is spending only $24 million. His budget proposal for next year calls for more money, but it’s just a start.

Officials see little chance for federal funding, at least in the short term. Leeds said there may ultimately be a federal water trust fund, like the U.S. has for highways and airports, but local customers will bear the cost for the foreseeable future.

As rate increases add up, water bills may not be as high as the monthly cell phone bill, but could be close.

“The days of water being a cheap commodity are over,” Leeds said.

Bad year for breaks

Assistant Water Services Director Jim Mellem recalls how Thanksgiving of 2010 was mild and nice. But the following week, the weather turned cold and nasty and stayed that way until mid-March 2011.

“We never got caught up,” Mellem said. “The leaks didn’t quit.”

Summer and autumn 2011 then turned brutally hot and dry, causing the ground to shift even more and adding to the misery.

By the end of last year, Kansas City had tallied a record 1,731 water main breaks, much higher than the annual average of 1,100 going back to 1998. The city attributed the crisis to a combination of weather extremes and the age and condition of much of the city’s 2,780 miles of mains.

Surprisingly, the worst pipe may not be the oldest pipe in the inner city. Maps show bigger clusters of breaks occur in areas developed during and after World War II. Older pipes were built with thicker, better cast iron. But that was in short supply during and after the war, so areas developed 50 or 60 years ago used pipe with weaker materials.

City officials say some of the most troublesome areas are in Brookside, Waldo and south Kansas City and in older, annexed subdivisions just north of the Missouri River, where the pipe was not installed to Kansas City standards.

Still, some crumbling pipe also dates to post-Civil War days. Earlier this month, crews replaced a 100-foot section of leaky pipe in the River Market that was stamped 1874.

Kansas City was not alone in suffering a record number of main breaks last year.

Johnson County WaterOne had 765 breaks, compared with an annual average of 603 over the previous five years. Johnson County has about the same miles of pipe as Kansas City, but much of it is newer.

Olathe had 124 main breaks, while its annual average is 72. And Independence had 275, up from its annual average of 211.

Getting better

Kansas City’s water main breaks cause more than just headaches and inconvenience. Some breaks cause serious, and expensive, damage.

Last year, according to spokeswoman Colleen Doctorian, the department paid out nearly $495,000 for property damage claims associated with main breaks. And just this month, the City Council approved paying a claim of nearly $175,000 for damage caused when a 10-inch main broke last October and flooded 100 basement storage units for residents of 909 Walnut Street.

Leeds and others say they are working hard to get to the breaks before they cause significant damage.

The department is spending more than $20 million this year on water pipeline maintenance and has expanded the use of private contractors.

Crews get to the most serious breaks within a day or two. And the department has whittled the list of moderate breaks — which can take weeks to get to — from 128 last November to fewer than 40 currently.

Leeds said the department has begun evaluating how long it takes to address moderate breaks once reported, and how to accelerate that pace.

The department had earlier budgeted $5 million for related street repairs, but just increased that contract by $2 million. Mellem said that, in addition to providing more crews, the department has improved its oversight of the street repairs, which he admits were taking too long.

“The tracking of that wasn’t what it should have been,” he said. “Our goal is to have all the repairs done within 30 to 35 days.”

He said the department currently has a backlog of 100 to 125 street repair jobs, which should be completed in a few weeks if the weather stays favorable. But new jobs are always being added to the list.

One big push this year is to finish replacing the two-inch mains that are among the city’s leakiest. When they break, homes can be without water.

The department is spending about $20 million this year to replace the last 28 miles of those mains. After that, the department will turn its attention to replacing larger mains.

In his latest budget message, Schulte is asking to boost water revenues by 12 percent — the third year of double-digit increases. The City Council still must approve a new rate increase, which would add nearly $6 million to the water fund.

“We must begin to aggressively replace our city water distribution system, and this budget begins the process of putting the long-term resources into place to rebuild the system,” Schulte said in his budget message.

The department has just begun a $250/hour contract with retired KCP&L President Bill Downey, who brings 40 years of electric utility experience. Schulte said he’s looking to Downey to recommend business improvements to the water utility, including in the way it manages its main repairs and replacements.

In an interview shortly before his assignment started, Downey said the main break situation is a key area he’ll be addressing, and he’ll be looking at how other cities respond to that challenge.

“The whole intent is to make sure we reduce the number of water main breaks and that we benchmark Kansas City against other cities, and that we’re performing well in that area,” he said. “I think there’s room for improvement right now.”

Schulte said he knows the water department owes it to its customers to do better.

“We cannot continue to ask our customers for more money,” he said, “while at the same time failing to meet their expectations on an ongoing basis.”