Infrastructure and Repairs
As most of you are aware HHWSD is required to maintain the sustainability of the districts water system. That system supplies water to 255 homes in the district.
The Board is concerned with the age and condition of the water system and increases in pipeline breaks in recent years. This past year The Board commissioned an engineering firm, Scott Cox and Associates to perform a study of the HHWSD infrastructure and make recommendations for a 20-year capital improvement plan for the system.
The system is comprised of a mixture of pipe materials including Cast Iron Pipe (CIP), Asbestos Cement Pipe (ACP) and Polyvinylchloride Pipe (PVC). In total we maintain just over 28,000 feet of pipe.
The City of Boulder Life Expectancy for the three pipe materials and percentage in our system is:
CIP 75 Years 12%
ACP 50 years 05%
PVC 100 year s 83%
Our pipe is a mixture of age, dating back to the 1960's with the majority installed or replaced in the 1980's and 1990's. The latest major improvement was a replacement of CIP along Baseline Road by Platt Middle School in 2011 at a cost of just over $250,000. The District has been able to repair breaks for the past 10 years and has been fortunate not to have required major replacement.
The Board, based on the recommendation of Scott Cox and Associates, plans to replace the CIP and ACP pipe in the district with PVC. The total cost to replace the pipe is estimated at $3.2M.
The Board's plan is to replace sections approximately every 2 years starting in 2018 and running through 2030. In the interim we will continue to repair breaks as needed.
In order to fund this capital improvement project, the Board has voted to add $20 to the monthly water base charge onto each customer's bill. We have planned the improvements based on funds from this base charge addition and generation of funds from normal operations.
A copy of the study, including GIS maps of the district with pipe types and repair history is available for viewing by contacting the District Manager, Cade Bertrand. You can also find the final report and maps of the HHWSD plant with break info in the DOCUMENTS section of this web page.