Commercial Water Line Replacement

Most of Kitsap County's condominium complexes, apartment communities, mobile home parks and commercial centers were built from the 1970s through the 1990s, and their private water mains were installed once, in whatever material was standard then, and never touched since. Thin-wall polyethylene, early PVC with solvent joints, polybutylene in some cases, galvanized on the oldest sites. Those mains are reaching the end of their expected life at the same time, and the pattern is familiar: one break, then another a year later, then a third, each one at night, each one with a flooded common area and water off to every unit.

A planned replacement ends the pattern. We trace the existing system, design a new one in continuous HDPE with properly placed building shutoffs and tracer wire, and phase the work by building or by run so water is off to one section at a time with residents told in advance. Where the old main's route is intact enough, new pipe can often be pulled through it from a pit at each end, which keeps the lawn and the drive aisles largely intact. Where it isn't, the mini excavator trenches a clean path, and the surface is restored behind it.

The scheduling is the part owners appreciate most. Planned replacement happens in the dry season, in daylight, on a published timeline, with a crew that has done the locate and knows the site. Emergency repairs happen at midnight in the rain. The cost of a planned replacement is also far more predictable than the sum of the emergency repairs it prevents, and that predictability is what a reserve study is for.

When a property needs this

• A private main that has failed more than once
• Thin-wall, polybutylene or galvanized mains identified during a repair
• A reserve study that has flagged the water system
• A site renovation that opens the ground anyway
• Chronic pressure problems from undersized or restricted mains

How the job runs

1. Assess and map. The existing system traced, materials and failure history documented, and a condition opinion written for the board.
2. Design and phase. New routing, pipe sizing, shutoff placement and a phasing plan that keeps water on to most of the site at any given time.
3. Locates and notice. Utility locates requested; residents and tenants notified of each phase's shutoff window.
4. Pull or trench. Continuous HDPE pulled through the old route where possible, trenched where not. Gravel bedding, tracer wire, warning tape.
5. Tie in and test. Each phase connected with buried-rated fittings and new shutoffs, pressure tested, and brought online.
6. Restore. Lawn, beds, gravel and drive aisles restored phase by phase so the site is never torn up all at once.

What the owner or board receives

• System map and condition assessment
• Phased replacement plan with scope and schedule
• New continuous HDPE mains with working shutoffs and tracer wire
• As-built drawing of the new system
• Restored site

What shapes the scope

• Total length of mains and number of buildings
• Whether the old route can be pulled through
• Surfaces crossed and restoration scope
• Phasing and notice requirements
• Utility requirements at the master meter