Dear Water Service Customer:
In the coming weeks the City of East Providence Water Utilities Division will be cleaning and cement lining or replacing the water mains which supply water to the homes on your street. The shaded area on the attached plan indicates the approximate limits of work. Once work commences on your street it is expected to take approximately a month to complete. The work will involve cleaning and cement lining of existing water mains, replacement of water mains and the replacement of hydrants, valves, and substandard building services. You may have seen this work happening in other communities in recent years. The objective of this work is to upgrade your water system and improve water quality. Landlords please notify your tenants of this proposed work.
IMPROVING YOUR WATER SYSTEM
As part of our ongoing maintenance program, we must periodically rehabilitate sections of the water distribution system. This assures you, our customer, continued and dependable water service. This work results in improved water quality, reduction in rusty water complaints, improved flows in the pipeline and more efficient operation of the water distribution system.
HOW WILL THIS WORK AFFECT YOU?
While the work is in progress, the old water main must be taken out of service. If necessary, residents and businesses along the route will be provided with temporary water supplies during this period. Connections may need to be made to your house or business from alternate by-pass pipelines laid alongside the curbs or back of sidewalks on each side of the street (See Figure 1). These alternate pipelines are typically called "temporary by-pass piping". A variety of different types of connections may be provided depending on the type of water service in your home or business. We will make every effort to ensure that your normal water service is maintained at all times. Only customers that will lose service for more than one work day will be connected to temporary by-pass piping, all others will be notified in advance of any impending one-day (typically 4 to 8 hrs) water main shutdowns.
Our contractor for this work will be W. Walsh Company Inc. from Attleboro, Mass. For detailed information on the cleaning and lining process, their web page can be accessed by typing www.wwalsh.com. They will be in contact with you once the by-pass mains are installed and tested to set up an appointment to obtain access to your basement. This is necessary to provide your existing water line with the proper connection hoses so your water service will be uninterrupted. Walsh’s crews may need access again at a later date and will contact you prior to that time. They will have photo identification tags clearly displayed from their company. However, should you have any questions or concerns about a worker wanting access to your basement, please don't hesitate to call our office at 435-7741.
PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP
If you live, work, travel or shop in the area, you'll notice a number of trench openings in the street and sidewalk and the new water pipes strung out in the sidewalk area. The trench openings allow access to the existing water main and water service pipelines as well as installation of the new water main. You'll also possibly notice the bypass pipelines running across intersections and across driveways with gravel ramped up at driveways to allow cars to drive over the
pipelines. There may also be hoses laying on the ground or running across the sidewalk or driveway and up to and into the houses. Please watch your step. If you see any potentially hazardous situations, please call us. All trench openings will be filled in and resurfaced at the earliest possible time. All by-pass piping/gravel, steel road plates, and all debris and materials will be picked up as soon as possible after the work is complete. Temporary asphalt patch will be installed as soon as possible and better permanent patch will be installed after approximately 90 days to allow for settling. Every possible safety precaution will be taken while the project is in progress. All work areas will be barricaded and carefully marked to prevent accidents or injuries. You can help to avoid accidents by cautioning your family and friends to watch their step and avoid the work areas as much as possible.
WHEN WILL MY STREET BE BACK TO NORMAL?
The short answer is “as soon as possible” but the more detailed answer is that we will strive to meet a time frame of about one month, from the first day of installing temporary bypass piping to the time that your street is temporarily paved and the bypass is picked up. The reason for this is that although the actual water main cleaning and lining may be completed in a few days, there are a lot of other things that must be completed, and completed in a certain order. The work sequence is as follows (Keep in mind that some steps are done simultaneously, and some steps may take longer than noted depending on field conditions):
Cleaning and Lining
1. Stringing out the bypass piping network - 1 day
2. Assembling/ testing and chlorinating the bypass piping network - 3 days to 1 week
3. Excavation/ shoring of access pits - 1 day to 1 week
4. Removal of all gate valves or piping in access pits - 1 day to 3 days
5. Actual Cleaning and cement lining of existing water main - 1 day to 3 days
6. Reinstallation of valves and access pit piping - 1 day to 3 days
7. Replace piping connections to side streets - 3 days to 1 week
8. Pressure testing, Biological testing and Chlorinating of the new water main- 3 days to 1 week
9. Temporary asphalt pavement is installed over all excavated areas - 1 day
10. Permanent concrete sidewalk repair - 60 to 90 days
11. Permanent asphalt road repair - after approx 90 days
Water Main Replacement
Water main replacement work is more construction intensive given the roadway excavation work involved and may take longer than noted.
1. Cutting/grinding of road surface to allow for excavation to install the new pipe - 1 day
2. Actual installation of new water main - 1 day to 1 week
3. Pressure testing, chlorinating, and biological testing of the new water main - 3 days to 1 week
4. Connection of the new water main to the existing distribution system - 1 day to 3 days
5. Connecting house water service lines to the new water main - 1 day to 1 week
6. Connection of new water main at the other end and abandonment of old main - 1 day
7. Temporary asphalt pavement is installed over all excavated areas - 1 day to 3 days
8. Concrete sidewalks are repaired - 1 day to 1 week
9. Permanent asphalt road repair - after approx 90 days
WHEN AND WHO SHOULD I CALL IF I SEE A PROBLEM?
We really do appreciate it when someone alerts us to a problem with the project - such as a pothole developing or a broken bypass pipe. You might see it before we do and we would like to rectify the situation as soon as possible, possibly before a more serious situation develops. If you have a concern, please call us and we’ll answer your questions or remedy a situation as soon as possible. The numbers to call are as follows:
EP Water Division 435-7741 between the hours of 7:00 am and 3:30 pm (Mon - Fri)
435-7600 all other hours and days
WHAT ABOUT PARKING AND ACCESS ON MY STREET?
Normally, local access is permitted to residents, however the street might be closed to through traffic depending on the type of work going on. “No Parking” signs will be posted between 24 and 48 hours in advance of any work being done. Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM parking on both sides of the street will be prohibited. Any vehicles that are deemed to be in violation are subject to being towed at the owner’s expense.
TEMPORARY INCONVENIENCE, PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS
We realize our improvement project may cause some temporary inconveniences for those who live and work in the area. We are working closely with the police department to minimize traffic disruptions. We will do our best to see that the project goes smoothly. This short term disruption will result in long term benefits.
WHY SHOULD I PUT UP WITH ALL THIS?
Clear, clean, high quality drinking water is our ultimate objective in all this activity. We realize that there are going to be some inconveniences during the project such as noise, dust, water shutdowns, traffic detours, road closings, and temporary pavement. We will strive to minimize the inconveniences and annoyances on our customers. However, these inconveniences are short term and minor when looked at in the long term prospective of providing new and upgraded water pipelines that bring drinking water to your homes.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation while we work to improve your water system.
