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End of drought may help prevent water line breaks in Tulsa

After the bitter cold, Green Country will now see a fairly rapid warm up over the next few days, which means a bumper crop of broken water lines is possible.

But Rick Caruthers, Tulsa's Water Distribution Manager, says he doesn't anticipate the high number of breaks the city suffered last year.

That's because this January, we're not still suffering from drought.

"If it was a really dry time and it got really cold like this and really warm, I think we'd have more breaks under that scenario," he told KRMG.

Monday, he said "I believe we've had about six breaks so far today, that's not uncommon for this time of year."

But if the rising temperatures do lead to an increase in breaks, he says, city crews are ready to handle them.

"We check our inventory to make sure we have adequate parts to repair those breaks, and just pretty much, you know, have everybody get as much rest as you can, because should that occur, may not be sleeping a whole lot."

He added that when the breaks occur, they will replace older, cast iron pipes with new pipes made out of ductile iron.

It's more forgiving when the ground expands and contracts, and is less likely to break.

The City of Tulsa manages about 2,200 miles of water lines.

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