Watermain Replacement, Why?

Friday, July 10, 2009 - We begin another year of watermain replacement projects for Moorhead Public Service. Did you know that this is 25th year of the watermain replacement program at Moorhead Public Service. Many people ask why we need to replace watermains. There are many answers to that question, and I hope to answer those questions in the next couple of bullets below.

• The main reason behind watermain replacement is to reduce the occurrence of watermain breaks which typically occur during the cold winter months of Minnesota.
• As of 2009, Moorhead Public Service has approximately 40 miles of what we classify as watermain that needs to be replaced.
• The pipe material that is replaced is called Cast Iron Pipe. The soils up in this neck of the woods just causes a lot of corrosion to the pipe which leads to the many watermain breaks that occur.
• The pipe material that we replace the Cast Iron Pipe with is called Polyvinylchloride or PVC. The expected life span of this pipe is well beyond my life time and probably my kids lifetime (100 years or greater).
• As of 2009, it is estimated that the total cost of replacing all of the 40 miles of watermain that needs to be replaced it would cost approximately $30 million dollars.
• At the current rate, MPS replaces about 1 mile of watermain a year. Currently, MPS partners with the City of Moorhead on some projects where the City is replacing the street and the watermain under that street is also replaced during the same project. This at times raises our rate of removal to about 2-3 miles per year.
• During the 2009 construction season, MPS has five areas on tap for watermain replacement. Just a reminder to the residents that are affected by these areas this year, our crews are working as fast as they can to get your area back to normal.

Until next time!

Posted by: MPS Water Distribution Engineer, Jared Heller