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All Hands on Deck: Weekend Leak Blitz

Over the past year, as the world seemed to slow down and almost stop at times, it simultaneously seemed like the workload never missed a beat.

As the pandemic ramped up last spring and into the summer, so did our work orders. Due to the pandemic and our crews working staggered shifts, the number of work orders was on the rise.

on a suburban tree-lined street, 3 utility technicians wearing orange and yellow safety vests and white hard hats dig dirt with shovels as they stand in a square pit cut out by a nearby CAT, backhoe, in the background are 2 white utility pickup trucks and a fourth utility technician

But when the work needs to get done, it’s “all hands on deck” for our Charlotte Water crews. Over the past several months, our crews have begun conducting a “leak blitz” during one weekend each month to reduce work orders’ backlog. This means that our crews will develop a list of priority leaks to complete throughout the weekend. Approximately 24 crews are assigned to work on the leaks, while other crews are assigned to work on emergency-only leaks as they arise. In some cases, they have completed up to 50 leaks during a leak blitz weekend.

on a city street, a large white utility truck parks near a job site, nearby are 3 orange traffic cones, 2 utility technicians in orange and yellow safety vests and white hard hats and 2 yellow backhoes, a tan hose is unfurled along the gutterway
on a city street, a utility technician operated a yellow CAT backhoe, using its bucket it claws its way through macadam revealing muddy water
on a city street, a utility technician wearing blue coveralls, yellow safety vest and white hard hat use a hand drill with yellow and blue extender to help unearth something below a pool of muddy water in the rectangular pit recently dug by the yellow CAT backhoe behind him

Our most recent leak blitz was this past weekend, February 20th and 21st. Crews were able to catch a break in the rain and get out to fix 29 leaks and counting, with a few work orders still pending. Thanks to our crews’ tremendous effort and hard work, they have been able to reduce the backlog of work orders and will continue to perform leak blitz’s in the coming months to stay ahead of the curve.

utility technician wearing orange safety shirt and white hard hat uses a brown pipe shaped tool to hand-pump his way into a section of a rectangular dirt pit cut into the side of a suburban tree-lined street
wearing orange and yellow safety vests and white hard hats, 2 utility technicians dig curbside along a suburban street while a third stands by an orange traffic cone looking down into the larger square hole containing one of the technicians
curbside on a suburban street, next to a yellow backhoe, a utility technician in blue coveralls, yellow safety vest and white hard hat kneels on brown-bark littered ground next to a removed rectangular white water meter lid revealing a rectangular hole in the ground
utility technician wearing orange safety vest and white hard hat stands on wet street with shovel as a tan hose runs by underneath him, next to him is white utility truck with Charlotte Water logo and a shallow cut square pit and two other utility technicians in orange safety vests along with 2 orange traffic cones

Learn more about how our staff prioritizes leaks, and how to protect your pipes during the winter months by reading our blog, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for the latest information from Charlotte Water. To report a leak in your area, please call 311 directly.

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