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Washington to replace century-old water mains block-by-block; staff outlines sampling, slip‑lining and monitoring plan
Summary
Public works described a block‑by‑block water main replacement on Front Street, scheduled charging and sampling procedures, plans for Main Street next year, ongoing slip‑lining projects, and use of field 'eye trackers' through a Missouri Rural Water apprenticeship to find infiltration.
City of Washington public works staff outlined plans to replace aging cast-iron water mains in the older part of town and described concurrent measures to limit resident disruption and confirm water quality.
The department said Front Street — which staff described as housing a water line more than 120 years old and subject to high system pressures — is being replaced one block at a time while the street is repaved. “Once they get the valves all set today, they'll start digging in the next block ... block by block heading east to west, we'll replace the water line on Front Street, one of our oldest lines,” Kevin, a public works staff member, said. He added that the work includes installing valves, charging the new line with disinfected water, and drawing bacteriological samples for the county lab before tying in services.
Staff said the Front Street project is expected to cost about $300,000; earlier replacements were cited at roughly $240,000 for Second Street and a projected $320,000 for Main Street. Kevin said Main Street will be the next major replacement and could take longer because of the number of services and businesses.
The department also discussed slip‑lining older sewer lines to reduce infiltration; staff said the work is coordinated to avoid the rainy season when the resin‑based lining can be affected by heat and moisture. “We usually try to do it outside of the rainy season ... September and October is the best time to do it,” Kevin said.
To target infiltration and prioritize future repairs, the city has participated in an apprenticeship project run by the Missouri Rural Water Association. Kevin said the city placed roughly 26 data-collection “eye trackers” on the west side of town to monitor rainfall events and sewer flow changes; the devices will record roughly 90 days of data and the association will analyze results and return a report.
No formal vote was recorded on water projects at the meeting. Staff said the Front Street work is in active construction, that tie-ins and sample testing will determine when services are switched to the new line, and that the department will present infiltration analysis and recommendations when the apprenticeship monitoring data are available.
