Water hammers cause nearly all water-main breaks in Jackson and in every other industrialized city, but they can be stopped.
The Jackson water system has been water-hammered into extensive damages, and much of this damage cannot be fixed. However, immediate actions can curtail the ongoing destruction of this system and stop water-main breaks that cut off drinking water to residents.
I recently published an op-ed founded on peer-reviewed engineering books and journal papers that summarizes my ongoing research since 1991 on water hammers and water-hammer prevention.
The Curse of Water Hammers
A water hammer is a pressure surge or wave caused when water flow is forced to stop or change direction suddenly, causing a change in momentum. These water hammers bang on water mains every time water flow stops or restarts in pipes. In our homes, water hammers are small when we turn off faucets, and those hammers make little difference to water-main breaks.
When industrial customers or high-rise buildings shut off water for annual fire tests or normal operations, however, water hammers damage water mains. When firemen or others close hydrants too fast during annual tests or when responding to fires, water mains are damaged. When some fire trucks are filled, water hammers damage water mains. Even the filling of swimming pools can damage water mains.
When power outages shut down water-supply pumps, water hammers damage water mains.
Many Ruptures in the Winter
In winter, water mains rupture across the country when power outages from high-speed winds shut down the water-supply pump. During pump shutdowns and restarts, pumps shoot water hammers throughout city water mains.
Water hammers cause high-pressure waves that bang through water mains at speeds less than one mile per second. In cities like Jackson, such high pressures reach anywhere in the city in under a minute.
These pressure waves bang on water mains over and over, again and again, eventually cracking them. Those cracks can then leak underground for months before causing a major rupture and can scour out the dirt under roads, leading roads to collapse. When cracks get big enough, water mains rupture, split