City finds large water leak

The city of Cloquet has solved its mystery of the missing water.

Public Works director Caleb Peterson said city officials suspected there was a big leak, as they were missing about 200,000 gallons of water a day based on historical data. But they couldn’t figure out where the water was, because no one had reported a leak, and there weren’t any new skating rinks forming in random places.

It took about a week, but they found the leak by checking sewers. They found one about a quarter-full with flowing water, definitely not normal for the recent frigid conditions. Then they worked their way backward until they found the leak itself.

The leak was in a city water main on the west side of the intersection of Slate Street and Arthur Street, across from Churchill School.

“Water takes path of least resistance, so rather than fight the frost all the way up to the surface, it was funnelling into a storm sewer,” Peterson explained, adding that it was a pretty standard leak. That means it takes longer to dig up than to make the actual repair.

He didn’t know the exact cause of the leak, but noted that they see a lot in winter because the ground shifts with frost. But there can be other factors such as electrical current, soil conditions or the age of pipe.

“It’s hard to pinpoint a cause. We’re just glad we found it,” Peterson said. “We watch our demands pretty closely. When these things pop up, we usually know about them before we find them.”