By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
Sioux City crews were cleaning up on Monday after the third water main break in the month of February. In January, they saw over 15 more breaks than usual, a result of a system that's aging faster than it's being repaired.
The signs of an aging system are sprawled all across Sioux City, including on S. Pomegranite Street where Sheila Sturdevant has lived for 40 years.
She's had to deal with two breaks in the last few weeks, more than she can remember in decades.
Sheila Sturdevant said, "It started late in the evening and they worked pretty much all night. It was inconvenient but I know they have to do it."
And when they fix it, it costs the city $7,000, every time.
Here are the numbers:
33 breaks in January, which shatters the previous record of 21 made just the month before.
City officials blame the drought and up and down temps for the surge. It doesn't help that 60% of Sioux City's water system is more than 50 years old.
But no matter what's at fault, it has to be fixed.
Tim Higgins, Underground Utilities Services Field Supervisor, said, "The only way that you're really going to alleviate the increased number of main breaks is by replacing more water main."
To do that, they need funding. At least one member of City Council is willing to spend the money: the Mayor.
Bob Scott says he's in favor of budgeting for a major water main overhaul.
"Maybe not do some of those full block paving deals that we've been doing for a while and try to solve some of these water main issues because they're not going to go away if the drought continues," said Mayor Bob Scott.
Other similar-sized Iowa cities are seeing the effects of the drought on their water line systems too.
Waterloo, Iowa saw just 6 breaks in all of 2012, just last month, there were ten.
A major increase yes, but goes to show just how high Sioux City's rate is right now.
In Davenport, Iowa, crews work on between 120 and 150 water main breaks a year, but say, their January was not above average.
