A number of municipalities recently replaced pipes, some more than 100 years old, or added valves to water pipes, which prevent the whole system from being shut down when there is a break.
WINDHAM
Windham has had one water main pipe break this winter, but many residential pipes have frozen and burst, town Supervisor Thomas Hoyt said Friday.
“We’ve had numerous homes (pipes) freeze because we live in an area where our population are second homeowners,” Hoyt said. “We did have a service line that broke that we haven’t dug up to repair yet, which happened earlier this month [January].”
The water line break happened in Hensonville on county Route 40. To prevent further damage to the water system, the pipe was shut off and a sleeve was placed over it to stop further leaks. All of the town’s water pipes were replaced about 20 years ago, resulting in less water main breaks, Hoyt said.
Because the town is enrolled in the New York Rural Water Association, the association will send out a technician to perform a leak survey when a pipe breaks to determine the exact location of the break and make the necessary repairs, Hoyt said.
The town has not had to issue any boil advisories.
CATSKILL
The village’s century-old water pipes have resulted in five water main break in January due to the cold weather, village Public Works Department Superintendent Angelo DiCaprio said Wednesday.
A pipe broke Jan. 27 on West Main Street near Creekside restaurant, 160 W. Main St., and the water in the area was shut off for about two hours. The village issued a boil water advisory Wednesday for the affected area, which was lifted Thursday.
The majority of the water main breaks were caused by pipes cracking from the cold temperatures.
Many of the village’s water pipes are over 100 years old, Village Board of Trustees President Joseph Kozloski said Wednesday.
The village received a $3.7 million Water Infrastructure Improvement Grant (WIIA) in October that will be used to fund the replacement of water and sewer lines that run under the village’s Main Street.
COXSACKIE
The number of water main breaks in the village have decreased over the past few decades, despite having pipes 90 to 100 years old, village Mayor Mark Evans said Friday. In the early years of his tenure as mayor, which started in 2009, the village had 25 to 30 breaks a year because the pressure release valves on the pipes were not maintained.
“The pressure release valves were not properly maintained for many years and we needed more of them,” Evans said Monday. “There’s no pumps in our water system, it’s all on gravity. When you go down a big hill toward downtown, if we didn’t have the valves, the pressure at the bottom would be so great that it would blow a sink faucet out. So, on every water line that goes down a hill, there is a pressure release valve. There’s six or seven of them throughout the system. If they’re not maintained, the pressure would be too great and the valves would break. We fully replaced all of them since 2009.”
The village has had one major break this winter, which occurred on Mansion Street on Thursday. The break was fixed a few hours later, Evans said.
There have been a few other minor line breaks the village has had to deal with this winter, including one minor break Jan. 27 on Whitbeck Street, which was repaired three hours later.
The village installed valves on all its water main pipes about 12 years ago, Evans said. The valves prevent the village from having to shut off water to the entire village, which allows them isolate it to the affected areas.
Last summer, the village replaced about 1,000 feet of the water pipe on Ely Street. The remaining water pipe on the street did not need replacement.
CAIRO
Cairo has mainly seen water pipes bursting in residences, which are up to the homeowners to fix.
Town hashad one major water main break this winter, said Michael Lamanec, a Cairo Public Works Department water operator and administrator.
The water main break happened in mid-December on a pipe on Jerome Avenue, which is over 20 years old and breaks almost every winter, Lamanec said.
“All the major breaks that we’ve had in the past month-and-a-half, or so, I wouldn’t say they were weather-related,” Lamenec said Friday.
The breaks that the town has experienced are related to the materials the pipes are made out of, which are typically carbon steel instead of the newer stainless steel pipes.
The town’s water main breaks are related to the materials the pipe saddles are made out of, which are typically carbon steel instead of the newer stainless steel pipes. A pipe saddle is used as additional reinforcement to a pipe base to keep it from snapping. Most of the new saddles were put in, as needed, starting in the 1950s, Lamanec said.
“Eventually they just rusted and snapped, and all of a sudden, it starts with a little leak and then eventually it’s a big leak surfacing somewhere,” he said.
The town is trying to finance the replacement of the Jerome Avenue pipe.
Lamanec said town residents should always leave a trickle running in their faucets to ensure their pipes do not freeze.
Greene County
The county does not deal with any maintenance of water mains, which municipalities are responsible for maintaining. The county sometimes assist with the extension of new water lines involving bringing new business to the area, which will expand job opportunities, Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said Friday.
“Where we can extend a new line that would then increase development opportunities,” Groden said. “Then, yes, we would only get into the capital side of things, but then we turn over operation and maintenance to the towns and the village.”
Last summer, the county assisted Cairo in extending one of its water and sewer lines to the McDonald’s restaurant at the corner of county routes 32 and 23.
“We spent about a million dollars, between the water and sewer [lines],” Groden said. “We’re trying to lure a big business in. So, hopefully, what we get out of it is a growing job base, or maybe the property tax base. But I’m more interested in the job base, how many new jobs, what level of pay and benefits. Just trying to diversify the economy a little more.”
The land where the water and sewer lines were expanded covers three parcels on 120 acres across from McDonald’s, which will likely be a commercial distribution center of some kind, Groden added.
