Freezing temperatures can take a toll on the pipes you rely on to bring water to your home each day, especially if they were installed decades ago.

Eric Bennett, general manager of the Parkersburg Utility Board said"this was the old water treatment plant that is currently used as the Ohio Valley Rowing Club"

The Parkersburg plant has been rebuilt since 1911 but Bennet said most of the city's utility board's water pipes have not been replaced over the last 70 to 100 years.

"It's not that resilient to ground movement. During the winter months even during dry winter, ou have excessive ground movement that causes the lines to break," said Bennett.

There have been about 10 water main breaks reported in Parkersburg this past week and one interrupted service to about 100 residents.

In Marietta, three breaks were reported but service was unaffected.

"The newer ones like the PVC, is more resilient and not near as likely to break."

So both cities are trying to replace as many water pipes as they can.

"As for upgrades a system of this age you need to continually upgrade and we're currently in the process of designing what we call our phase two improvements," said Bennett.

Bennett said this would include small and large diameter replacements.

To fund the upgrades, the Parkersburg Utility Board is in discussions with City Council about a rate increase.

The Marietta water superintendent said about 350,000 of the city's budget this year is going towards a water system upgrage.