Council approves first water project payment

RITZVILLE – At its first meeting in September, the City Council unanimously approved POW Contracting’s first payment for its work on the city water distribution system.

The payment will be an estimated $633,455 — roughly a third of the original contract price of $1,714,230. It covers project materials, most of which are now onsite.

The pay estimate also included mobilization, administration and “potholing” existing water mains.

“Potholing” involves placing a small hole in the ground through a process called vacuum excavation. Once the hole is deep enough, a construction or inspection crew can visually confirm the presence of utility lines, water mains, or sewer pipes.

Public Works Director Dave Breazeale reported that POW Contracting used this method to determine existing pipe material and size.

Clerk/Treasurer Julie Flyckt discussed water shutoffs as the project continues.

“Crews sometimes turn off a valve controlling water distribution to a large section of the city,” she said. “A crew may only know a day in advance when this happens.”

As a result, residents may be given short notice.

The contractor may go door-to-door to talk to residents. The city will post notifications on social media and the city’s webpage, and via the county’s Code Red system, according to Flyckt.

“As water is turned off to different sections of town over the next few months, we hope to notify people in a variety of ways,” she said.

Breazeale added details about the process.

“After a crew digs a hole, they cut the pipe, install a new assembly, and bolt it together,” he said. “In a perfect world, that work should take only an hour or two, but other factors could boost the required time to ten hours or more.”

And some areas of town won’t be affected at all.

“We don’t know exactly who will be affected, so we’ll give it our best guess the day before,” Breazeale said. “Over time, we’ll be able to isolate city blocks better. That way, fewer people should experience water shutoffs.”

He added that it’s a long tedious undertaking that involves taking notes, determining elevations, adding bigger lines in some places, and looping the system in other places.

POW Contracting should complete the project in November, according to Breazeale.