Contractors from Crestview Construction prepare to replace 600 feet of waterline on Cottage Street in Southwick, Thursday. The present line was installed more than 50 years ago and is undersized and leaking. The new line will be six-inches in diameter and will insure higher water pressure for the homes located in that area. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
SOUTHWICK – Residents on Cottage and Knollwood streets will soon be under more pressure, in a good way.
Department of Public Works Special Assistant/Engineer Richard Grannells said water main replacement on Cottage Street would result in better water pressure for residents and cost savings for the town.
“It’s been leaking like a sieve,” said Grannells of the current 1 1/2-inch copper pipe.
Grannells is overseeing the replacement of the half-century old pipe this week. Crestview Construction is performing the work as part of the town’s annual heavy equipment bid. Grannells said the total project cost will be about $40,000.
“We are replacing just under 600-feet of old copper pipe with new six-inch PVC pipe,” said Grannells.
The pipe will be laid in a loop, which he said is the best way to keep the flow going. He said this will also boost water at the neighborhood’s hydrants.
“We try to loop everything we do now,” Grannells said. “That way it is constantly flowing and you don’t have any dead ends, like this is now.”
Grannells said he won’t know how much the new pipe will save the town in unaccounted water costs, but he suspects it will be significant.
“I won’t see how bad it is until it’s all out, but we had a three-foot piece with about a dozen holes in it,” he said.
In addition to being too narrow, the existing pipe is most likely made of post-war copper.
“Post-war copper is not pure copper,” Grannells said. “It deteriorates faster.”
Grannells also suspected that when the homes were built in that area they were probably grounded to the water pipe, which is not ideal.
Replacing water mains is a regular function of the DPW’s water division, said Grannells.
“As we find them, we replace them,” he said.
The Cottage Street project will take a few weeks to complete. Workers were cutting into the road this week and Grannells said the new pipe would be installed next week. When the water is switched over to the new pipes, residents should experience minimal water interruption.
“As we switch each house, the water will be down for about an hour,” said Grannells.
Residents will be notified via the Connect City phone system, as well as door hangers, when they can expect to experience water flow interruptions.
