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Former city contractor provides insight into what may have caused so many water pipe breaks in Atlanta – WSB-TV Channel 2

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Former city contractor provides insight into what may have caused so many water pipe breaks in Atlanta – WSB-TV Channel 2

ATLANTA — John D. Stephens has more than 30 years of experience as a former contractor having worked on several City of Atlanta watershed projects.

“I did a lot of work at the airport,” Stephens said.

Ashli ​​Lincoln, Channel 2 investigative reporter showed him a picture of the broken pipe that city crews removed from under 11th and West Peachtree streets.

“They haven’t made big cast iron pipes like this in several years,” Stephens said.

He explained to Lincoln that as systems aged, the method of prevention was slow.

He said a common cause of multiple breaks is when the water flow is turned on and off too quickly.

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“You just have to be slow, you have to go really slow and make sure you don’t get hammered in that line,” Stephens said.

As the city of Atlanta works to investigate the cause of the multiple breaks that occurred in less than three days, Stephens said so-called “hammer breaks” are not uncommon.

“This water is moving quickly, and then all of a sudden it stops, and then it’s like this, and we call them hammer breaks,” Stephens said.

Unlike air, Stephens said water cannot compress.

When systems are turned on and off too quickly, water can’t go anywhere, leading to ruptures.

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