Temporary above-ground water mains? PUC says they work

PUC officials are happy with a new water main relining process performed on two east-end streets.

And, it would seem, so are the residents.

PUC officials told SooToday after their Wednesday board of directors meeting it was expected residents on Irwin Avenue will be off a temporary water service and back to normal service by Monday after the PUC carried out the relining process on the street. 

Officials said residents on nearby Tuckett Street are already back to normal water service after their street’s water main was relined.

“As far as we know there haven’t been any issues . . . in fact people were complimentary about how well the project was carried out,” said Dominic Parrella, PUC president and CEO.

“This is a very good news story,” said Giordan Zin, PUC supervisor of communications.

“We announced this program, rolled it out and we’re done in three months.”

“Normally we work with the city on water mains when they do road reconstruction and this year there were six streets, but with this project we were able to do another two streets on our own…we’re two steps closer, if you will, to revitalizing our infrastructure,” Zin said.

Once the water mains were cleaned out with good quality water and dried, resin liners were fed into the pipes.After temporary service lines were run from house to house above ground for PUC customers on Irwin and Tuckett, water mains on the two streets were taken out of service, pits were dug 300 to 400 metres apart on the streets, and water mains were then scoured to remove build up, right down to the metal.

The liners then hardened and now fit tightly to the interior walls of the pipes.

Parrella told SooToday the process, new to the Sault, should extend the life of the water mains on those streets by 50 years.

It cost approximately $1 million to reline the water mains on both streets, Parrella estimated.

“It’s a long-term project . . . it all depends on budget, but we’d like to do two or three streets a year,” Parrella said.

It is anticipated east end streets will take priority, as that end of town has historically experienced the majority of water issues in recent years.

A temporary above-ground water main is attached to a fire hydrant around the corner from Irwin Avenue. Michael Purvis/SooToday

A telephone survey by the PUC of east end customers, currently underway and ongoing, will help the utility determine where to proceed next, Zin said.

Approximately 3,000 east-end customers have been contacted in the telephone survey so far, with a goal of reaching 7,000.

In another item from Wednesday’s PUC board meeting, it was announced approximately 8,750 of the city’s street lights have been converted to LED technology, with approximately another 250 to go.

The PUC said it’s expected those remaining LED lights will be done by the second week of December.

Total cost of the LED street light conversion process is $8.8 million, and it is anticipated over $900,000 will be saved in energy costs annually.