Copyright 2000 The Hartford Courant Company
THE
HARTFORD COURANT
October 12, 2000 Thursday, 4N EASTERN
SECTION: MANCHESTER EXTRA; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 520 words
HEADLINE:
PLANS UNDER WAY FOR WATER-PIPE REPLACEMENT;
12 MILES OF PIPE INVOLVED
BYLINE: BRENDA SULLIVAN; Courant Staff Writer
DATELINE: MANCHESTER--
BODY:
"We've come a long way in treating our water. The quality is pretty good.
But if you put even the best water in a dirty glass, what do you get?"
Robert J. Young, administrator of the town's water and sewer department,
asked this as he described the needs behind a multimillion-dollar water
improvement project. The project will replace more than 12 miles of pipe in
town, beginning in the spring. Right now, more than half of the town's 245-mile
water system is unlined cast iron pipe, Young said. About 36 percent of the
system was installed prior to 1950. "Most of these pipes actually were installed
between 1910 and 1930," he said.
And with half a century or more of
corrosion and rust buildup, these pipes have begun to look like a medical
illustration for hardened arteries.
"We're getting arterial blockages,
which not only reduce volume but affect quality," Young said, as he displayed a
cross-section of pipe that had become almost completely blocked with bubbles of
rust.
Replacing so much pipe will be a lengthy process, expected to take
three years. It also comes with a $5 million price tag. But when it comes to
water quality, an ounce of prevention is worth the proverbial pound of cure,
Young said.
"We look at it as reinvesting in the system, so that 20 or
30 years from now, we're not spending $20 million to fix the whole system," he
said.
In June, the board of directors approved $8 million in spending,
to be financed with short-term notes. Of that, $3 million, will be used for
modifications to other parts of the water treatment system.
"While
keeping the water quality safe, we'll be looking at options such as pre-oxidants
that get rid of, or reduce substantially, chlorine byproducts,"
Young said.
This is an optimal time for the department to take on such a
project, now that it is close to paying off debt from previous projects, Young
said. "With declining debt from our 1980s projects -- down from $2 million to
$500,000 -- we can go on to the next step," he said.
In order to tackle
such a large and complicated project, a consulting firm was hired to construct a
computer model of the town's pipe system. The model defined 63 "project zones."
Each of these zones would cost about $500,000 to upgrade, Young said.
"Ultimately, we're talking $31 million of need," he said.
But to get
started, the department devised a weighted point system to create a Top 10
project list. Points were assigned to certain criteria, such as proximity to
critical town facilities, such as the hospital, schools, and nursing homes; the
history of complaints in an area; and whether there is adequate flow available
for fighting fires.
The first project is in the Manchester Memorial
Hospital area, and includes pipes surrounding the hospital, along with the
section of the system lying along Haynes, Alpine and Russell streets.
The second project will tackle an area including High, Short, Fairfield,
West, Middlefield and Bank streets, as well as Ridge Street and a portion of
Arch Street.
The third project will run the length of Hilliard Street,
from New State Road to Main Street.
GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC; 1
(B&W); map; Water main repair; A multi-million dollar water main replacement
project will begin with three phases. In all, 12 miles of pipe will be replaced.
The repairs will affect the streets below that are shaded gray.; MAP CAPTION;
Project 3, Hilliard St. Project 2; high St., Project 1, Russell St.
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 2000 
