TULSA, Okla. — Winter's big freeze and thaw cycles can cause the ground to shift. It leads to pipes cracking, leaking or bursting. Pipes exposed to the cold can also freeze and burst.
If it happens on Tulsa's side of the water meter, city crews fix the damage. If it happens on your side, the city will help you shut off your water until you can get a plumber out to make repairs.
Leaks are popping up all over Tulsa following our recent freezing weather, but repair crews tell 2 News breaks happen more often in areas with older pipes like this home where water is bubbling up through the driveway.
This break is on the city side of the main line, so city crews will make the repairs.
In the meantime, water gurgles down the driveway and into the storm sewer.
Every day, Tulsa has between eight and 12 repair crews on duty around the clock to deal with big breaks and small leaks. But, even with that much manpower, it needs a tiered system to prioritize what to fix first.
Josh Bilby, Tulsa Water Distribution Manager, explained how they prioritize leaks:
We prioritize based on if it's a break, or a leak - so a break typically we have water shooting up - it could be causing damage to the street -it could be causing damage to property - those are prioritized first - if it's typically a leak - those are just water seeping out and it does cause water to gather in the roadways or on driveways - those are lower priority and could take up to 30 days to respond to.
If you notice a break or leak, call 311 to report it in the City of Tulsa. You can also call Tulsa's Water Dispatcher directly at 918-596-9488
Contact the Problem Solvers:
- 918-748-1502
- problemsolvers@kjrh.com
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