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City details water system upgrades: tunnel work, lead-service inventory and Abert plant improvements
Summary
Staff reported tunnel excavation and shaft work, an ongoing lead service-line inventory (about 18,000 private and 2,400 public lines unknown), and a multi-year $27M program of upgrades to the Abert (Abirt) water treatment plant, with replacement plans due next October.
City water resources and utilities staff briefed council on several major water-system efforts at the July 14 work session.
Tim Mitchell told council that drill-and-blast excavation for a major tunnel project has finished and vertical shaft work will begin for sewage and stormwater drop structures near Hollins Mill Road. He described the project as "on schedule and on budget" and noted additional activity at the tunnel site.
Mitchell and other staff also outlined a citywide lead service line inventory. The inventory effort uses test-pit excavations and a machine-learning tool to reduce the number of pits needed once sufficient data are collected. Staff said Virginia Department of Health has approved the approach. Mitchell reported roughly 18,000 privately owned service lines and about 2,400 publicly owned lines with unknown materials; the city has been awarded $15 million toward lead service-line work and anticipates a total program cost of roughly $30–$35 million over the next 10 years. A formal replacement plan must be submitted next October.
On treatment-plant upgrades, staff (Scott Parkins) said the Abert plant dates to the mid-1970s and needs a series of capital improvements over the next five to eight years. The highest-priority work is a raw-water pump-station influence screen to protect intake operations from the James River; overall capital needs were estimated at about $27 million to be phased across multiple years. Staff said certain projects are moving into construction within the next year and that the city is coordinating finance and design to meet timelines.
Council members asked about public outreach, GIS mapping for identified service-line materials and how interceptor design could accommodate future trail connections; staff said identified materials are displayed in GIS with color coding for private and city sides and that easement language could reserve space for a future trail where property owners and alignment permit.
