On Feb. 17, a water main rupture in southwest Detroit displaced families and caused significant damage to homes. Occurring after a spell of bitter cold, the break raised concerns about the impact of human-caused climate change on aging water infrastructure.
This is not an issue restricted to Detroit. While many western U.S. cities benefit from modern construction, New York, Boston, and other long-established eastern metropolises rely on water and sewage networks dating back a century.
The acceleration of climate change could create new problems for these old systems, noted Palencia Mobley, CEO and founder of Mode Collective, a Detroit firm that consults on water infrastructure projects. Intense hot or cold weather, for example, can cause metal in piping to forcefully expand and contract.
Then there are “weather whiplash” events where warm spells are followed by periods of brutal cold – a perilous combination that weakens pipes and increases the likelihood of water main breaks. According to Mobley, a sudden shift in temperature can induce “thermal shock” in water mains, resulting in the cracking of their metal components.
The Great Lakes Water Authority manages the water main that burst in February, though the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is in charge of many smaller mains. Most failures in DWSD’s system occur in mid-winter or late summer – the city experienced hundreds of smaller water main breaks during a sustained period of frigid cold in the winter of 2014, Mobley said.
“In the winter, you have a deep freeze situation where the ground is frozen, then pipes expand again during summer weather,” said Mobley. “There are also more people using water during hot days, but we will see more breaks when temperature fluctuations occur.”
Searching for answers
The Detroit water main break in February occurred as single-digit temperatures gripped the region. DWSD’s network experienced 260 water main breaks this February – for context, the system had 232 breaks in Feb. 2019 during a cold wave that brought record lows to parts of the Midwest. An average of 164 ruptures occurred each February between the years 2020 and 2024, as reported by DWSD.
The major water main break this February involved a 95-year-old steel pipe with a mortar lining, said DWSD deputy director Sam Smalley. Generally, most older water lines in Detroit are made of traditional cast iron, with innovations like ductile iron offering improved strength and durability.
The 54-inch main in southwest Detroit had become heavily pitted from corrosion. Exceptionally cold water originating from the Detroit River – the city’s main drinking water source – was likely a contributing factor to the break, Smalley said.
“When the river hits 36 degrees, those breaks go up during (the winter months),” said Smalley. “Thermal expansion and contraction makes those assets brittle as well.”
During the summer, when water usage is higher, the frequent on-off cycling of pumps can result in pressure fluctuations that contribute to failures. Smalley also points to the “water hammer effect” – or hydraulic shock – when valves are closed quickly at the end of a pipeline system.
“Opening or closing of fire hydrants can cause a water hammer, which also leads to breaks,” Smalley said.
While a pipe network should ideally last a century, other factors like soil conditions can impact their life span, noted Mobley, the Detroit entrepreneur. Highly corrosive soil, for instance, can gradually erode a water main’s exterior, a process made even worse by rapid transitions between hot and cold weather.
“You see more breaks across the country when there’s very large shifts in temperature,” said Mobley. “In Detroit, we have a certain amount of breaks. But in times of deep freeze or other extreme weather, you will have mains popping daily.”
The work ahead
Detroit’s underground water infrastructure includes about 2,700 miles of water mains, with diameters varying from four inches to four feet. In addition, the city’s 3,000 sewer mains, 30,000 fire hydrants, and 90,000 catch basins are managed using pressure sensors and a cellular-based meter reading system.
“We want to install listening devices that can detect leaks in advance,” said Smalley. “We can also use thermographic satellite images that locate hidden leaks that don’t come to the surface.”
In the meantime, the work of strengthening or replacing old infrastructure continues, progressing even at the level of individual neighborhoods. For older pipes that are still structurally sound, epoxy-infused interior liners can prevent water from directly contacting the metal, Smalley said.
“The liners adhere to the inside of the existing water main to extend its useful life,” said Smalley. “The cost can be significantly less than replacing the entire water main, including for materials and labor.”
Detroit is also considering swapping old mains with high-density polyethylene pipes similar to those used by gas companies. However, replacing a standard eight-inch water main costs about $2 million per mile, a significant capital investment not presently in place.
“It used to be $1 million a mile, but labor, equipment and materials costs have all gone up,” said Smalley. “We need more funding for water and wastewater systems.”
Regardless, most major metropolises must find ways to adapt their water infrastructure to the cascading impacts of climate change, said Mobley. Solutions for future infrastructure could involve burying pipes deeper for better insulation or using more robust materials to handle extreme hot-cold cycles.
“Managing infrastructure in light of climate change is new,” Mobley said. “There’s not a lot of case studies, nor science to for use in modelling or predicting how various systems may perform in extreme weather conditions. So, it will be critical for utilities to study their data sets and understand local conditions to better prepare their operations for climate impacts.”
