Washington Street in Brainerd Gets New Piping After Old Water Main Gives Out

Brainerd Public Utilities was working all-day Monday to make a much-needed repair for the city.

Early in the morning on January 30, crews from Brainerd Public Utilities scrambled to find out how a main water line had burst. After many buckets of dirt were taken out of the ground on Washington Street and the situation had been assessed carefully, they cut out an old piece of broken piping and replaced it with a repair sleeve to test the leak.

As for what caused the leak in the first place, it seems to be down to one of two things.

“Cold weather, old infrastructure, said Scott Magnuson, Brainerd Public Utilities superintendent. “We’re hoping to get that piece of the main upgraded with the road project coming up in a couple years with MnDOT, doing that entire stretch from, basically from the west edge of Brainerd all the way out to the east edge of Brainerd.”

Once pipes were measured to their correct length, the water was turned back on to check for any possible leaks.

“They’ve got it already … chlorinated in there, bleached in there, and then they’ll flush out probably 15 minutes, half an hour, and then the water will be back on,” explained Magnuson.

The temporary piping will eventually be eliminated with the new road project coming to Brainerd in a few years.