Price City Council approves plan to replace aging spring transmission line and adopts water rate increase

Price City Council on April 9 approved moving forward with design and funding applications for a replacement of the city's aging spring water transmission line and adopted an ordinance increasing culinary water rates, city staff said.

The council approved a motion to advance the spring water transmission line replacement project and to pursue funding from the Utah Division of Drinking Water and the Permanent Community Impact Board (CIB). The project would replace roughly 7 miles of an 11-mile pipeline that a February 2024 condition study found to be more than 95 years old in many sections and subject to repeated leaks, staff said. The work is estimated to cost between $12 million and $14 million and to take three to four years to complete, with most construction performed April through October to avoid winter months when the line is the city's sole drinking-water source.

The project's plan calls for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, which engineers described as flexible and resistant to corrosion and impact and likely to have a century-class life span. City staff and consultants said the replacement will be staged so that the springs and hydraulic grade can be maintained during tie-ins and that most work will occur adjacent to the existing alignment where possible.

Why it matters: The transmission line carries spring water from the Skullfield/Colton area to the Colton Springs water treatment and storage system. Multiple presenters told the council that continued reliance on the existing pipe exposes Price City to water-supply interruptions and…