Do frequent birst water pipes affect water quality?
I live in an area where we have common occurrences of burst water pipes. This wastes copious amounts of water and the municipalities take long periods of time to start repairing them even after being reported.
From the time that the pipe has burst our community has low water pressure and when eventually it is in the process of being repaired we are left without water for long periods, sometimes days at a time.
I would like to know if this does affect our water quality at all?
The burst pipes could very well pull in bacteria from the surrounding soil / etc. Your municipalities should be disinfecting all pipes and also the water after the pipes are fixed. All burst pipes should be fixed in a fast timely manner. These are all things that all water operators should know and do.
The burst water pressure should not affect the actual quality of the water as long as there is positive pressure in the water pipes. This is because water is coming out of the pipes meaning that nothing can get into the pipes. Now if the quality of the water was questionable to begin with then this will not change water that was of poor quality to begin with.
References :
It depends on the pressure inside the pipe vs the pressure outside it. When I was in Yemen, sewage would leak into the water pipes. In the developed world, clean water leaks out. However, the chlorine in the "clean" water can have detrimental effects on nearby bodies of water. If you want to light a fire under the municipal authorities, notify your state’s Department of Environmental Protection or the Fish Commission. They will force the municipality to seal the leaks promptly.
References :
The burst pipes could very well pull in bacteria from the surrounding soil / etc. Your municipalities should be disinfecting all pipes and also the water after the pipes are fixed. All burst pipes should be fixed in a fast timely manner. These are all things that all water operators should know and do.
References :
I have worked with water systems for over 8 years.