The Solution to Destructive Water Main Breaks

Protecting underground pipes from leakage and bursting by a technology known as "cathodic protection" is practiced by industry and commerce worldwide. Despite this, cathodic protection has yet to be introduced to most municipalities in the United States. It has been shown to reduce 95% of potential water main leaks and breaks. It protects communities from the expense, destruction, and embarrassment caused by these unpredictable events.

Cathodic protection consists of attaching anodes (typically, a 50 lbs. magnesium rod) with a wire to "old" water mains at "hot spots" where corrosion is most aggressive. It has been promoted by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and is popular in large cities such as New York City, as well as farm communities in Monroe County New York, and even in a small community such as Ogdensburg, New York. Figure 1 below shows data illustrating that within a year of anode installation in the Region of Durham, a bedroom community of Toronto, 53 water main breaks that had been budgeted to be repaired in 1982, were reduced to merely 3, a 95% savings.

Figure 1: Cumulative number of breaks before and after anode
installation, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada

Anode installation is conducted with surgical precision (see Figure 2 below). It is a 4-step method:

1. Drill a 1-foot diameter hole with an auger to almost reach the pipe.
2. Vacuum out the rest of the dirt; reach the pipe.
3. Attach the anode to the pipe with an insulated copper wire.
4. Fill the hole with dirt; repave as needed.

Figure 2: Anode installed to protect ductile and cast iron pipe

The cost, an average of $5,100 per 1000 feet of pipe, is well worth the expense and will protect you from an even greater expense later on. The anode is designed to protect the pipe for 20 years.