WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. — The edge of Catherine Barr's front lawn at Larkhill Court off Edgar Road in Webster Groves resembled a mini lake on Tuesday.
"We left around 6:45 to take the dog to daycare and everything then when we came home, the cops had the roads shut down and there was all this water out here," she said.
Missouri American Water was forced to shut down multiple lanes to address a couple of water main breaks in the area, including closing Edgar completely between Canterbury and Hampshire.
At Elm and Lockwood Avenue, an 8-inch break caused Webster Groves City Hall to close for the day.
Crews worked quickly to patch it up.
Meanwhile, Barr was glad the water inside her home still worked.
"We're feeling pretty lucky so far but we suspect they'll probably shut it off,” she said.
Officials with Missouri American Water advised it was not uncommon for breaks to occur during the weather shift.
“Older water pipes...ground shift...the soil being corrosive," Christie Barnhart said. "All of those things can factor into main breaks seeing an uptick when all of those things happen."
Over the last three years in Webster Groves alone, the water utility company has spent about $8 million in water pipe replacement.
In 2023, Barnhart confirmed they have another $7 million planned.
“We're going to be replacing those pipes and hopefully minimizing the water main breaks people see in their neighborhoods,” she said.
The company advised residents to know where the shutoff valve is located to minimize the damage if pipes do break and steps to keep pipes from freezing.
“Wrapping the pipes with heat tap or even newspaper or some kind of fabric to keep them insulated," Barnhart said.
The company told 5 On Your side they will be back out on Wednesday to do a temporary patch on the pavement. They will also track the weather to do the permanent restoration.
Residents are advised to sign up for alerts or call if they experience any water outages.
City officials said they would reevaluate operations at city hall on Wednesday.
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