Earlier this week one of our customers became aware that a water main was leaking into a Con Edison manhole in front of their house. Naturally the homeowner contacted DEP (311) to avoid any potential unsafe conditions and have the problem resolved immediately. Little did they know that the water leak was coming from their pipe and they were responsible to have it repaired on an emergency basis.
Unfortunately the existing water line was made of lead and had to be replaced in full with a new copper pipe. The other unfortunate part about this water main installation is that the city water main was located on the opposite side of the street (AKA long water). This long water required 90’ of new pipe from across the street. In other cases the city water main is directly off of the curb in front of the house and is considered a “short water”. Many short waters only require 50’-60’ of pipe which will reduce the amount of labor and material, resulting in a more cost effective water line replacement.
A long water main |
The leak was so heavy it was actually traveling below ground from the Con Edison manhole, to the city sewer which was located 23’ away. Once the roadway was opened, the on-site crew utilized a 3” pump to beat the water leak and finally close the water from the city main.
DEP marks out the leak |
Pumping water from excavation |
Now that the water leak was under control, the remainder of the work was completed quickly. Within 4 hours the new copper pipe was installed from the street, to inside the roadway tunnels, and inside the house.
Water main installed under street |
New water main connected to city water main |
