ST. LOUIS — Just days ago, a water main break wreaked havoc at the intersection of Penrose Street and Blair Avenue, submerging the area. With the intersection still closed off, it’s an inconvenience for people like Robby Owens, a delivery driver.
“I actually had to get out of the car and walk to the customer's home," he said.
The problem stems from what’s about 10 feet underground: aging infrastructure.
"What questions do you have for the city about these frequent water main breaks?” asked the I-Team's Paula Vasan.
“How many more opportunities or circumstances like this could appear?” said Owens.
So the I-Team pressed the city’s Curt Skouby for answers.
He showed us exactly what went wrong: a nearly 130-year-old valve that stopped working. It controlled the flow of water. The pipes and valve from the area where the water main break happened were from 1895. It is some of the oldest infrastructure in the city’s water system.
“Is our city's water infrastructure falling apart?” asked Vasan.
"It has a lot of challenges, but it's not falling apart," said Skouby, director of public utilities with the City of St. Louis.
There have been 146 water main breaks citywide so far this year, in line with previous years. It’s an imperfect and unpredictable system.
YEARLY WATER MAIN BREAKS
- 2012: 425
- 2013: 460
- 2014: 531
- 2015: 414
- 2016: 470
- 2017: 502
- 2018: 525
- 2019: 304
- 2020: 323
- 2021: 353
- 2022: 389
- 2023: 360
- 2024: 146 (as of May 1)
[Source: City of St. Louis]
“We will replace when we have the funds to, to replace them," Skouby said.
The I-Team asked how much money is needed to make the repairs that are necessary.
“Probably in the hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 20 years," Skouby said.
It's money that’ll come mostly from the city, state, and residents paying 40% more for water.
Owens has faith.
“It's a great opportunity for St. Louis City water to shine," he said.
Rasheen Aldridge, St. Louis alderman of Ward 14, told us in an email: “Water is one of the basic litmus tests that we can use to determine the health of a community; both in terms of the physical health of the residents as well as the quality of the city's involvement in that neighborhood in regards to the number of dollars spent on that neighborhood's infrastructure. There have been three large water main breaks since I have been sworn in - that is simply unacceptable. I am thankful that the Board of Aldermen is listening to the residents who said that their number one issue is upgrading the city's water infrastructure. I look forward to using the Rams settlement money to upgrade the city's infrastructure so we all can live a more dignified life.”
If you want to get in touch with Paula, leave a voice message on 314-444-5231 or email her directly at pvasan@ksdk.com.