Q&A
Council Member Holden inquires about water main breaks and DEP response times
0:48:22
·
3 min
Council Member Robert Holden questions DEP officials about recent water main breaks, their causes, and the department's efforts to prevent and respond to them. The discussion covers improvements in leak detection, AI tools for prediction, and response times to water-related issues reported by residents.
- DEP officials explain that water main breaks have decreased due to better pressure regulation and leak detection efforts.
- An AI tool is being developed to predict potential breaks based on historical data.
- DEP reports improved response times to water-related issues compared to previous years.
Robert Holden
0:48:22
Thank you, Chair.
0:48:23
Deputy Commissioner, thank you for your testimony.
0:48:27
A couple of things.
0:48:28
We had a water main break, a huge one.
0:48:30
I believe it was in the Bronx.
0:48:33
And, what caused that?
0:48:35
I mean, it I guess we have certain times of the year, maybe now, is when we start to see when it freezes and we get cold weather and then warmer.
0:48:45
Do the water mains, kind of, they're more susceptible now to breaks?
0:48:50
Because we lost a lot of water.
0:48:51
I don't know how much.
0:48:52
I don't know what caused it.
0:48:53
But if you could elaborate on that.
Paul Rush
0:48:56
So that's outside my area of responsibility.
0:48:59
Alright.
Robert Holden
0:48:59
Well, somebody.
Kathryn Mallon
0:49:01
Yeah.
0:49:01
I was out there until about 3 last night.
0:49:06
It it it's too early to tell what caused that main break, but as soon as we're able to excavate the area and take a look at it, we can we'll have we'll have better answers.
Robert Holden
0:49:16
Now I used to hear, years ago, more water main breaks than we're hearing now.
0:49:21
Is that is my imagination, or is it are we doing better?
Kathryn Mallon
0:49:24
No.
0:49:25
We're doing much better than we have been historically.
0:49:28
Some of it is around, the pressure regulators throughout the system to make sure that we're controlling that very, steadily, that we don't see surges in the system.
0:49:38
So there's been a lot of attention on the regulators and the pressure in the system.
0:49:43
And and there's also been, a lot of effort on leak detection.
0:49:47
So finding leaks before they turn into main breaks.
0:49:50
And we're also, using some AI tools right now, to see if we can't take historical breaks and turn that into a predictive tool.
0:50:01
So there's a lot of effort going on within the Bureau of Water Supply Operations, that, Deputy Commissioner Tasos Georgios is, Deputy Commissioner of, to, keep main breaks to, as low a level as possible.
Robert Holden
0:50:13
And I guess there's a regular replacement of water mains because of their age.
0:50:18
Some are over a 100 years old or more.
0:50:22
So we're on a program, and we're we're keeping up with that.
Kathryn Mallon
0:50:26
We do have a program to routinely look at our water mains and replace those that are we believe are most vulnerable.
Robert Holden
0:50:33
Alright.
0:50:33
And one of the you know, in my district and in probably many districts around the city, we a resident will call in to 3 11 a leak at a hydrant or in the street.
0:50:46
And many times, at least when I first started, as a council member, there was a priority list where the leak would go on for weeks sometimes because it wasn't that great.
0:50:57
Are you still doing that?
0:50:58
Because it just seemed that we didn't have enough crews at that time, maybe 7 years ago.
0:51:04
So it has it changed?
Kathryn Mallon
0:51:05
Oh, definitely.
0:51:06
I mean, I think if you look at the MMR report and you look at the response times, it's it's, it's pretty prompt.
0:51:12
I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but I can get that to you.
Robert Holden
0:51:15
Yeah.
0:51:15
I did I because I don't get as many complaints Yeah.
0:51:18
Where it's lasting for weeks on end.
0:51:20
No.
0:51:20
So that's that's good to hear.
0:51:22
Thank thank you, sheriff.
