Late Thursday morning Harris Water Main & Sewer Contractors received a call from a frantic landlord after he learned that his buildings water line had been shut-off in the roadway by the DEP. After further investigation it became apparent that the tenants received a DEP 3 day notice after the water line was deemed as leaking one week prior. The tenant did not think much of the notice or the water coming up in the roadway and decided to ignore the DEP notification.
DEP opens roadway to turn off water
A Harris representative arrived to the building on Metropolitan Ave., Queens within 30 minutes of receiving the phone call, it was confirmed that the water had been shut-off in the roadway. The situation quickly turned into an emergency situation after the landlord informed Harris about two baby’s living in the building, a water line replacement crew was quickly dispatched to building for a new copper water line installation. In this case there was no option to repair the existing water line as the pipe was made of lead, it is 100% illegal to repair a lead water line, and it must always be replaced with a copper pipe.
One hour later the water main installation crew had arrived on-site when the Harris office staff obtained an emergency street opening permit along with notifying DEP about adhering to the the 10 day notice that had been issued earlier that day. All permit numbers were posted at the jobsite as required, along with the required safety signs, barricades and equipment.
Harris re-opens roadway for replacement
The jobs foreman started by re-opening the roadway hole that had been made by DEP earlier that day and digging down 4 feet to the city main where the tap valve is located to turn the water on and off. The city water main was located 2 feet off of the buildings curb line and a total of 20 feet from the meter on the inside of the building, the job was completed with making one hole in the street and one hole in the foundation wall of the building where the new 1 ¼” water line would enter the building. The installation crew was able to make an 18 foot tunnel underground from the “tap hole” in the roadway, to inside the building where the new copper was pulled into the building and connected back to the existing meter.
The roadway was paved the very next day leaving a relieved landlord, happy tenants and a new copper water line installed from A to Z, all within 24 hours.
