Water usage rose due to frigid weather, broken pipes

Water usage in Birch Bay rose significantly as pipes that froze during the recent spell of frigid weather thawed and cracked in subsequent days.

Temperatures in Birch Bay reached a low of 12.7 degrees Fahrenheit on January 15, according to the Birch Bay Water and Sewer District (BBWSD). Around that time, many residential water pipes froze, said BBWSD operations manager Mike Sowers. In the subsequent days, the ice in the pipes thawed, causing the pipes to crack or break and spill water.

This caused water usage in Birch Bay to almost double. According to BBWSD data, the district had net water usage of about 600,000 to 700,000 gallons per day in the first half of the month. But in the days following January 15 when the temperature warmed back up, water usage shot up significantly, hitting a high of over 1.2 million gallons on January 19.

“People need to winterize their homes and pipes, before winter, and particularly before a deep freeze,” said Sowers. “A little prevention can go a long way to save a lot of time, money and grief.”

The low temperature of 12.7 degrees on January 15 wasn’t quite as low as the record low on January 18, 2012, when the temperature dropped to 11.6 degrees, the lowest January temperature recorded from 2012 to 2020. “As for temperatures, it wasn’t the coldest January in recent history, but it did dip down quite a bit before becoming almost balmy again,” said Sowers.

January was a wetter-than-normal month, said Sowers, with over 1.5 inches of precipitation above average. The average monthly precipitation in January since 2010 has been 4.56 inches, but as of January 26, there had already been 6.07 inches so far this month. “If we get the rain that is forecast for this week, we could have a new 10-year record January rainfall total,” said Sowers. The previous record for the month of January came in January 2011, when 7.47 inches were recorded, according to BBWSD’s data, which dates back to 2010.