New York City’s water supply relies on a series of century-old pipes — and one of them burst early Tuesday near Times Square, flooding the subways and streets at the crossroads of the world.
City officials said the 20-inch water main that broke open was 127 years old, which pre-dates the consolidation of the five boroughs. It’s also older than the city’s subway system, where an estimated 1.8 million gallons of water flowed after the pipe split open.
But data from the American Society of Civil Engineers shows its old age is not a rarity. A 2022 report from the organization found 40% of the city’s 6,800 miles of water mains were installed before 1941, the year the U.S. entered World War II.
And for years, experts have called on city leaders to take the aging state of the city’s water supply more seriously, warning major breaks like the one on Tuesday could become more frequent if the old pipes aren’t replaced quickly.
“It’s kind of like clockwork,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a local think tank. “When a significant portion of the water main infrastructure was built more than 80 or 100 years ago, there’s a great likelihood that some of those water mains are going to burst.”
New York City has recorded more than 400 water main breaks each of the last three years — or an average of more than one per day, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.
A DEP spokesperson pointed out that equates to about five breaks per 100 miles of water main each year, fewer than the national average of 25 annual breaks per 100 miles of water mains. They also said the city invested $769 million on sewer and water main upgrades last fiscal year, which ended on June 30, up from $567 million the year prior.
But the data from the mayor’s preliminary management report released in January shows the replacement of aging water mains slowed during 2022, Mayor Eric Adams’ first year in office. The report states 71%…
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