Austin ISD - Announcement: Why Do Our Pipes Break?

Press release from Austin ISD - Announcement:

February 22, 2022

By Eduardo Villa

The long-term impact of February 2021’s Winter Storm Uri is now manifesting across our district in the form of leaks in our plumbing systems.

Driving the news: The historic winter storm and power outage that taxed our most vulnerable, aged buildings, compounded by a year of idled campus operations, created the perfect model for burst pipes.

State of play: Water and power shut off across the city during the winter storm, leaving our schools without heat or water flow, leading water to freeze, causing pipes to swell, crack, or burst, creating water leaks when the water thawed.

When a pipe breaks at a school, the district’s operations team identifies the damaged pipe, estimates the time of the repair, and works with the campus principal to avoid interruptions to school operations as repairs can sometimes take hours.

Yes, but: When there’s a leak, only the damaged portion of the pipes gets repaired. The district budgets for unforeseen repairs such as these but is unable to do complete plumbing system upgrades without the help of additional money, which comes in bonds.

The bottom line: Most (75%) of the cause is derived from aging infrastructure, and 10% to 15% is because of the impact of the winter storm. The rest is caused by campuses brought back online after the virtual learning period of the pandemic.

Flashback: What was the cost of damages of Winter Storm Uri? Seventy-two campuses reported damage during the winter storm, totaling $8.9 million in repairs.

This press release was produced by Austin ISD - Announcement. The views expressed here are the author’s own.